Penelope and the Suitors by John William Waterhouse was created in 1911 – 1912 and is in Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums. The size of the work is 129,8 x 188 cm and is made of oil on canvas.

About the Work

In his later work J.W. Waterhouse wholly embraced the poetic imagination of the Pre-Raphaelites. To this he brought a broad handling and loose brushwork which has been credited to the influence of French painters such as Bastien-Lepage.

Penelope’s legendary marital fidelity was recorded in Homer’s epic poem, ‘The Odyssey’. For many years, her husband Odysseus had been absent at the siege of Troy. Pressed to make a second marriage, she stalls for time, telling the crowds of suitors that they must wait until she has finished weaving a shroud for her father-in-law. During the day she works at her weaving and at night, still convinced that Odysseus will return, she undoes all her day’s work.