Ulysses and Telemachus on Their Way to Laertes

Author: Albert Elen

This drawing was formerly believed to depict the expulsion of Loth and his family.^[1] It received its proper title when it was included in the famous exhibition on the School of Fontainebleau in the Grand Palais in Paris in 1972-73. Ulysses (Odysseus) and his son Telemachos, accompanied by Eumeos and Philotheos, are on their way to the orchard of Ulysses's father Laertes. Travelling by daylight they are cloaked in darkness by a cloud spread by the goddess Pallas Athena. The scene derives from book 23 of Homer’s famous epic poem the Odyssey (800 BC), recounting the adventures of the hero Ulysses, finding his way home to the Greek island of Ithaca after the fall of Troy.

As already suggested by Lees (1913), yet unaware of the proper iconography, the drawing is related to the lost cycle of 58 wall frescoes depicting the Odyssey designed by Francesco Primaticcio and executed by Niccolò dell'Abbate (c.1509/12-1571) in the Gallery of Ulysses in the Palace of Fontainebleau.^[2] It forms part of a dispersed group of 31 preliminary drawings by Primaticcio intended for this important decoration project. A large group of 19 sheets is now in Stockholm,^[3] and smaller numbers are divided between Vienna (4), Weimar (3), Haarlem (2), New York (1), Chantilly (1) and unknown locations (2).^[4] The surviving preparatory drawings are all executed in a characteristic combination of red chalk and white heightenings on a red ground, the often elongated figures baring witness to the mannerist style of the artist. The designs are generally very detailed, also in the architectural backgrounds of the scenes, with intricate perspectival constructions.

The gallery was demolished in 1738-39, but the entire fresco cycle was fortunately recorded in Theodoor van Thulden's (1606-1669) print series of 1632-33.^[5] Although in reversed images this print series allows a comparison of the preliminary drawings and the final compositions. The fresco related to the Rotterdam drawing is recorded in the print numbered 51.^[6] Unlike the other preparatory drawings the lower left part of the composition of the Rotterdam sheet was left blank. Only some faint traces can be discerned beneath the hovering figure. At lower right the print shows a landscape with a view of a city and the gate through which Ulysses and his companions have just left. The cloaking of the group with the cloud was actually meant to disguise them when leaving the palace and walking through the city to the gate without being noticed by the suitors of Ulysses’ wife Penelope; here it looks as if they are already leaving the cloud after having left the city unnoticed and reentering daylight. The cloud is only sparingly indicated in the drawing, whereas in the print it dominates most of the background. Probably the detailing of these parts of the composition was entrusted to Dell'Abbate, allowing him a free hand.

Compared to most of the other sheets, the drawing in Rotterdam is 30 to 40 millimeters smaller in width and has thus probably been slightly cropped. In addition, the corners have been diagonally cut off, to be replaced only later on.