Terra-cotta relief

This figure is of a type which recurs in a series of Greek sculptures and reliefs.

Penelope is seated, with her workbasket beneath her chair. She has paused momentarily in her spinning. She rests one foot on the footstool, leans her head on her hand, with elbow supported on her left knee.

She is pensive, thinking about her lost husband. She is veiled, as befits a matron.

This pathetic pose became a favourite on funereal monuments for mourners.

Angelica Kauffman. Penelope, Mourning Odysseus.
Collection of Wolverhampton Art Gallery.