Full title | Penelope with the Suitors |
---|---|
Artist | Pintoricchio |
Artist dates | active 1481; died 1513 |
Series | Three Frescoes from Palazzo del Magnifico, Siena |
Date made | about 1509 |
Medium and support | Fresco, detached and mounted on canvas |
Dimensions | 125.5 x 152 cm |
Acquisition credit | Bought, 1874 |
Inventory number | NG911 |
Location | Not on display |
Collection | Main Collection |
This picture, painted in fresco (directly onto wet plaster), was part of a series of eight which decorated the walls of the palace belonging to Pandolfo Petrucci, the ruler of Siena. He commissioned the frescoes to celebrate the marriage of his son to Pope Pius III’s niece. Two others survive in the National Gallery’s collection.
This panel shows an episode taken from the Odyssey, an epic poem attributed to the Greek poet Homer. Penelope was married to the Greek hero Odysseus, who fought in the Trojan war, but during his 20-year absence she was pursued by other men – seen here queuing up for her attention. She vowed that she would only remarry once her weaving was complete. She ensured that it never was by unpicking her daily labour each night.
The man seen entering the room carrying a staff – a symbol of a traveller – might be Odysseus; when he did finally return, he killed the suitors with his bow and arrows.
This picture, painted in fresco, was part of a series of eight which decorated the walls of the palace belonging to Pandolfo Petrucci, the ruler of Siena; three survive in our collection. He commissioned them to celebrate the marriage of his son to Pope Pius III’s niece.
This panel shows an episode taken from the Odyssey, an epic poem attributed to Homer which follows the Greek hero Odysseus as he travels home from the Trojan War. His wife Penelope, famous for her fidelity, is shown at her loom: during Odysseus’ 20-year absence she was pursued by other men – seen here queuing up for her attention – but vowed that she would only remarry once her weaving was complete. She ensured that it never was by unpicking her daily labour each night. The central figure who raises his finger seems to be talking to Penelope (he has sometimes been identified as her son Telemachus). He and the suitors wear colourful clothes that look expensive; some have fashionable blond curls and one poses nonchalantly with a falcon, perhaps to show off his hunting skills.
The man entering the room looks different to the other suitors. He carries a staff, often a symbol of a traveller, and his red and blue outfit mirrors the colours of the bow and arrows which hang above Penelope’s head. The association is most likely deliberate: Homer tells us that when Odysseus returned he disguised himself as a beggar and, taking his rivals by surprise, drew his bow and arrows and killed them one by one.
Other episodes in the poem are depicted in the distance. We see Odysseus’ ship, which is decorated with the blue and gold Petrucci coat of arms. The mermaids in the water are the sirens. Homer describes how Odysseus asked his sailors to strap him to the mast as they passed by so that he could listen to their enchanting song without falling victim to its curse – it famously lured sailors to wreck their boats. Sailors in a small boat nearby dive into the water, maddened by the beauty of the singing. On the coast we see Odysseus meeting the witch Circe. They are surrounded by pigs, painted to look like the local Sienese breed, the Cinta Senese, which have a white stripe down their backs. The pigs are in fact humans who have been transformed by Circe’s sorcery.
The choice of subject was relevant for the celebration of a marriage: fidelity and chastity were key virtues for Renaissance women and Penelope was the exemplary bride. It probably had meaning for Pandolfo too, for other reasons: like Odysseus, he also experienced exile and homecoming, having been banished from his hometown of Siena, accused of political intrigue, in the late 1490s.
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Three Frescoes from Palazzo del Magnifico, Siena
These three paintings in fresco (painted directly on to wet plaster) once decorated the walls of a room in the Petrucci family palace in Siena. Each wall was painted with two frescoes, positioned on either side of a doorway or window. The ceiling, which can be seen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, contained 20 frescoes of mythological scenes, divided by carved, painted and gilded stucco (plaster), produced by Pintoricchio and his workshop. At the centre was the Petrucci coat of arms, surrounded by flying putti (cherubs).
The frescoes were commissioned by Pandolfo Petrucci to celebrate the marriage of his son to the niece of Pope Pius III. The occasion provided an opportunity to show off his fashionable interest in classical history – through scenes from ancient Greek and Roman literature and history, the frescoes illustrate family values and the virtues important to marriage.
These three paintings made in fresco belong to a series of eight which once decorated the walls of a room in the Palazzo Magnifico, the Petrucci family palace in the Tuscan city of Siena. Every inch of the room, which was in the upper storey of a medieval tower, was painted and gilded including the ceiling.
The decoration was commissioned by Pandolfo Petrucci, the ruler of Siena, to celebrate the marriage of his son Borghese to Vittoria Piccolomini, the niece of Pope Pius III, an illustrious union that Pandolfo was keen to commemorate. The room, which contained little furniture – a table, chests and some benches – was used for receptions but also served as the backdrop to Pandolfo’s meetings regarding official business.
Eighteenth-century descriptions help us to imagine what the room, which became known as the camera bella (‘the beautiful room’), looked like originally. There were two frescoes per wall, positioned on either side of a doorway or window. Along with the three in our collection, there were two by Girolamo Genga (now in the Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena), two more by Signorelli and one by Pintoricchio (all three now lost). Pintoricchio was an obvious choice as he had been commissioned by a member of the Piccolomini family to decorate the library in Siena Cathedral only a few years earlier.
The upper part of the room was decorated with eight medallions that contained more narrative scenes (now lost). The gilded stucco ceiling which can be seen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, featured 20 frescoes of mythological scenes painted by Pintoricchio and his workshop. At the centre was the Petrucci coat of arms, surrounded by flying putti. The upper part of the room contained arches painted with images of the nine muses, among others.
The floor was decorated with ceramic tiles painted with coats of arms and grotesques (decorative, imaginary beasts entwined in foliage). Many still survive and some show the Petrucci coat of arms along with that of the Piccolomini family. The Piccolomini are not present in the ceiling decoration, where the Petrucci coats of arms is displayed centrally alone – or indeed elsewhere in the room. The blue and gold colours of the Petrucci family dominate, suggesting that part of it might have been commissioned before the marriage.
Pandolfo was obviously interested in ancient history and mythology and the images in the room offered him a way to express his learning on the subject – key knowledge for any educated Renaissance noble. The ceiling design was based upon that in the domus aurea (‘the golden house’) in Rome, the home of the second-century emperor Nero, which was discovered in the late fifteenth century. Fictive stone tablets at the junction of the ceiling and the upper wall were inscribed with quotes from Latin texts. The episodes from Greek and Roman history and literature depicted on the main part of the walls demonstrate qualities such as fidelity, chastity and generosity of spirit, relevant not only in the context of wedding celebrations but also as a backdrop for state business.
The frescoes suffered damage when they were removed from the wall, as can be seen from their crumbly texture.



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