Jacques-Louis David: The Farewell of Telemachus and Eucharis

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.