Penelope Unraveling Her Work At Night Analysis

Penelope Unraveling Her Work at Night is a beautiful piece of artwork done by Dora Wheeler, an American artist in 1886. As a Graphic Design major I have chosen to analyze this piece of artwork. Often as a visual person, I can get lost in some of the confusing passages that we read. By adding the aspect at looking at the story in a visual way, I am able to understand this story of Penelope in a new and beautiful way. The reason I think this tapestry is so beautiful and well done is that without knowing the story of The O¬¬¬¬dyssey and in particular what Penelope was going through while Odysseus was gone you are still able to figure out what the tapestry is representing. There are three things that help this tapestry tell the story of Penelope life while the Suitors were in pursuit of her. First the facial expression and body language that she is showing, second the color pallet that is used, and finally the medium that is used in the artwork. If you were to change any of these three things this piece of artwork would change the story that it is telling.
Imagine if instead of a somber facial expression Penelope was smiling in this tapestry. By changing this one thing, the entire story that it is telling would change. By
By creating this image out of thread it creates a direct parallel to Penelope creating a tapestry herself. By choosing the medium of the thread, there is another benefit that I doubt the artist ever had in mind. Old age has begun to affect this piece of art by it slowly disintegrating. This, however, goes with the story of Penelope unraveling her work perfectly. Just as she unraveled her tapestry, this tapestry has begun to unravel. This has added a whole new dimension to the artwork that makes it yet an, even more, beautiful piece. If this tapestry were not a tapestry at all but instead a painting it would lose this whole new dimension that is