This panel illustrates a scene from the seventeenth-century didactic novel Les Aventures de Télémaque, fils d’Ulysse (The Adventures of Telemachus, Son of Ulysses), by French archbishop François de Salignac de la Mothe-Fénelon (1651–1715). Beginning in 1689, Fénelon was a tutor to Louis, Dauphin of France (later Louis XV), second in line to the throne. Originally intended for the education of the Dauphin, the novel was published covertly in Holland in 1699. It follows Telemachus as he searches for his long absent father, Ulysses, guided by the sage Mentor (Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, in disguise). Through Mentor, Fénelon expounds a constitutional monarchy—in which the ruler-prince is advised by a council of patricians—and condemns war, luxury, and selfishness.

Regarded as a satire of the reign of then-King Louis XIV, the novel became a bestseller in France and abroad. The tapestries, originally designed as a series of ten, depict sentimental scenes from Fénelon’s tale. With the support of Margaret and William R. Hearst III, three tapestries from the series have been acquired by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

In this panel, Telemachus and Mentor flee the island of the nymph Calypso, who has become enamored of Telemachus. The well-preserved colors of the silk and wool threads attest to the exceptional craftsmanship of the Leyniers family, who were leading dyers and weavers in Brussels for three centuries. Several versions of the Telemachus series were produced by the Leyniers workshop between 1724 and 1752. This set is the only known example in a United States museum.