Penelope with the Suitors

This fresco by Pinturicchio, dated around 1508-1509, shows the moment when Odysseus returns to Ithaca after the Trojan War, while Penelope has spent years besieged by suitors. It comes from the Palazzo Petrucci in Siena and was part of a group of frescoes that included a work by Luca Signorelli. It was probably commissioned by Pandolfo Petrucci for the wedding of his son. The scene captures the instant when Penelope, seated at her loom, is surprised by Telemachus, who steps forward in the foreground followed by the startled suitors. Odysseus stands in the doorway, removing his hat, dressed in a manner closer to Renaissance fashion than classical tradition. Beyond the window, his ship is anchored in the harbour, while the landscape recalls earlier episodes such as Circe turning his companions into pigs and Odysseus bound to the mast to hear the Sirens. Some scholars also read a political message: the rocks may stand for the dangers Siena faced from Cesare Borgia, and the hero for Pandolfo Petrucci himself returning from exile. The steep foreshortening and large figures reflect the monumental manner of the painter's late period.

Painter

Pinturicchio

Date

1508

Medium

fresco

Dimensions

124 × 146 cm

Museum

National Gallery, London

Genre

mythological painting

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