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Bartolomeo Pinelli

Telemachus, Believing that His Father, Ulysses, Is Dead, Searches for Him in the Underworld, from The Adventures of Telemachus, Book 18

1808
Pen and black ink, with brush and brown and gray wash, over traces of black chalk on ivory laid paper, laid down on board
48 × 59 cm (18.9 × 23.2 in)

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In the collection of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · as of July 2026

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

In the last scene illustrated by Pinelli (book 18, of a total of 24), Telemachus steps onto the shores of Hades, land of the dead, after being ferried across the River Styx by Charon (seen in the background). Under Minerva’s protection, Telemachus has accomplished the feat granted to no mortal of descending to the underworld by entering the sulfurous cavern near the southern Italian city of Acherontia. In Hades, spirits of the dead and creatures of the night surround him. In search of his father Ulysses’s spirit, Telemachus will discover that he is still alive.

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