Oil painting from the Fine Art collection. "Penelope at her Loom" by Angelica Kauffman, showing a woman sitting at a loom with her head resting on her hand. A dog is curled up at her feet. 1764.
This painting by Angelica Kaufmann shows a woman dressed in gold and blue robes with her head resting on her hand, leaning on a weaving loom. At her feet is a dog and a bow. The woman depicted in the painting is Penelope, wife of Odysseus. The story is from Homer's Ancient Greek epic 'The Odyssey'. When her husband fails to return from the Trojan War, Penelope is pursued by for her hand in marriage. In order to delay her suitors Penelope tells them that she can not remarry until she had finished weaving a shroud for Odysseus' father. At the end of each day Penelope unravels her day's work in order to delay the pursuit of her suitors. However her ruse is eventually discovered and Penelope agrees that she will marry the man who can string Odysseus' bow and shoot an arrow through twelve axes. By this time Odysseus has secretly returned and disguised as a beggar he passes his wife's task. He then slaughters the suitors who have tormented his wife.
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