Jacques–Louis David – The Farewell of Telemachus and Eucharis (Getty Museum Studies on Art) - Softcover

Jacques-Louis David's brilliant painting of the young lovers Telemachus and Eucharis was created during the artist's last years, when the defeat of Napoleon and the return of the monarchy in France forced him into exile in Brussels. Several of his paintings from this period show his preoccupation with the psychology of love, but none depicts the emotions of parting more tenderly than this painting from 1818. Dorothy Johnson discusses how David's political involvement affected his personal life and career, taking him from history painter to revolutionary to living in exile. The effects of these experiences came together at the end of his life in the creation of some of his richest and most complex works.

Jacques-Louis David's painting of a theme related to the Odyssey is one of his last brilliant mythological works. His exploration of the complexities and ambiguities of the psychology of love is central to his treatment of the subject. In addition to a history of David's career and his influence on the French school of painting, this study provides an analysis of the innovative iconography of the painting and the context in which it was created, as well as its contemporary reception.