On past visits to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, I've always concentrated on the paintings. When I visited two years ago, I spent some time in the sculpture room and I found lots to make me curious. The detail in this statue fascinated me.
The draping of her dress was impressive but I thought the toes in her sandal were amazing. Her foot in that sandal is incredibly natural looking. This sculpture is called "Sappho" and it was created by Count Prosper D'Epinay (1836-1914), a French sculptor. Apparently many of his clients were nobility and royalty. When I looked him up, I learned he has a sculpture of Joan of Arc in the Reims Cathedral. I wished I had seen it when I was there all those years ago.
The expression of fear and anguish on this fellow's face is what drew me to this sculpture by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (1827-1875). It's called "Ugolino and His Sons". There is a story here. Count Ugolino was a victim of political intrigue and was locked in a tower along with his sons and grandsons without food or water.
Carpeaux was known for his ability to create amazing expression in his sculptures.
The title of this sculpture is "Winter" and it was created by Jean Antoine Houdon (1741-1828). What makes this one so unique is the use of a beautiful woman to depict winter rather than an old man as most artist do.
You can almost feel her shivering in the cold.
Her flimsy shawl is certainly not enough to protect her from the frosty air.
It was the title of this one that caught my eye. It's called "A Hypocrite and a Slanderer". The Artist is Frans Xaver Messershmidt (1736-1783). This Austrian artist produced nearly 70 headpieces exploring the shapes and expressions on faces.
However, the artist's story is a little deeper than that. Apparently he suffered from mental illness and one observer said he sculpted heads to ward off evil spirits. This one made me wonder how "mental illness" was defined in the 18th century. What was intended by the name of this sculpture remains a mystery.
Diving into the history of these pieces proved to be truly fascinating to me. I'm glad I took a closer look.
5 comments:
These sculptures are amazing. The expressions on the faces are stunning.
Sappho fascinates me.
It is hard to imaging the hours spent on the tiny details, that are so easily overlooked. I need to go back to NYC, the new Penn Station passenger station and platforms opened this week.
What talent! The details are really impressive.
I am always fascinated by the incredible talent shown by sculptors. These are great!
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