European Sculptures
A Hypocrite and a Slanderer
A Hypocrite and a Slanderer Maker: Franz Xaver Messerschmidt (German, Weisensteig 1736-1783 Pressburg) Date: ca. 1770-83 Culture: Austrian, probably Pressburg (Bratislava) Medium: Tin alloy Dimensions: Overall (wt. confirmed): 14 9/16 x 9 5/8 x 11 5/8 in., 25lb. (37 x 24.4 x 29.5 cm, 11.3399kg) Classification: Sculpture Credit Line: Purchase, European Sculpture and Decorative Arts Fund, and Lila Acheson Wallace, Mr. and Mrs. Mark Fisch, and Mr. and Mrs. Frank E. Richardson Gifts, 2010 Accession Number: 2010.24 On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 548 Messerschmidt, the leading sculptor at the court in Vienna in the 1760s, was forced, for personal and professional reasons, to leave for the provinces and by 1777 had settled in Pressburg (today Bratislava). There he concentrated on a private series of heads, completing more than sixty in his preferred medium of tin alloy or in alabaster. While acknowledging the artistic tradition of exploring facial expressions and emotions, these Kopfstücke, or head pieces, as he called them, were highly original for their combination of realism and abstraction. Visitors to his studio observed the artist studying himself in a mirror. Some of the heads are straightforward self-portraits, smiling or frowning; others are satirical or comic, the sitter reacting to a strong odor or yawning widely. A few, such as this one, called "refusers" by an early critic for the way they deny contact with their surroundings, are deeply introspective. The meaning of the series has been long debated. The titles were conferred after the sculptor's death, when forty-nine works were exhibited in 1793. Messerschmidt was aware of contemporary medical theories, such as Johann Caspar Lavater's 1775 study of physiognomy's relation to human character, and he certainly knew his Viennese neighbor the physician Franz Anton Mesmer, who believed that outward senses connect to inner emotions and developed related therapies to treat his patients. However one assesses it, the series of is exceptional in eighteenth-century sculpture, stylistically advancing beyond Neoclassicism to a reductive simplicity, forecasting modern minimalism, and psychologically rendering serial states of mind in a project that was novel for the pre-Freudian world.
Becchanal
Bacchanal: A Faun Teased by Children Artist: Gian Lorenzo Bernini (Italian, Naples 1598-1680 Rome) Artist: and Pietro Bernini (Italian, 1562-1629) Date: ca. 1616-17 Culture: Italian, Rome Medium: Marble Dimensions: Overall (confirmed): 52 1/8 × 29 × 18 7/8 in., 529 lb. (132.4 × 73.7 × 47.9 cm, 240 kg) Classification: Sculpture Credit Line: Purchase, The Annenberg Fund Inc. Gift, Fletcher, Rogers, and Louis V. Bell Funds, and Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, by exchange, 1976 Accession Number: 1976.92 On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 548 Gian Lorenzo Bernini was the heroic central figure in Italian Baroque sculpture. The influence of his father, the Florentine-born Pietro, can be seen here in the buoyant forms and cottony texture of the Bacchanal. The liveliness and strongly accented diagonals, however, are the distinctive contribution of the young Gian Lorenzo. Although about eighteen when he made this work, he already displayed what would become a lifelong interest in the rendering of emotional and spiritual exaltation. The Bacchanal reveals the young Bernini's intensive study of bacchic subject matter.
Harlequina
Harlequina Modeler: Franz Anton Bustelli (Swiss, Locarno ca. 1720-1763 Munich) Manufactory: Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory (German, 1747-present) Date: ca. 1763 Culture: German, Nymphenburg Medium: Hard-paste porcelain Dimensions: Height: 8 in. (20.3 cm) Classification: Ceramics-Porcelain Credit Line: The Lesley and Emma Sheafer Collection, Bequest of Emma A. Sheafer, 1973 Accession Number: 1974.356.524 On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 533 In the eighteenth century, porcelain figures depicting characters from the Italian commedia dell'arte were extremely popular. The various characters that comprised a typical Italian comedy troupe were instantly recognizable to the audience because of their costumes, and the details of these costumes were faithfully copied in the porcelain figures. The male figure (see 1974.356.525) depicts Harlequin, the principal character of the commedia dell'arte, who always wears a suit composed of brightly colored patches. The female figure, Harlequina, is dressed in a complementary costume. Italian commedia dell'arte figures were produced at all of the major German porcelain factories, but those made at Nymphenburg are among the most accomplished. Around 1760, Franz Anton Bustelli (ca. 1720-1763) modeled sixteen characters from the Italian commedia dell'arte, and these figures justify his reputation as one of the greatest of all eighteenth-century porcelain modelers. The characters are depicted in extremely elegant, slightly exaggerated poses that suggest movements in a dance and yet simultaneously convey some aspect of the character's personality.
Hercules and Achelous
Hercules and Achelous Artist: Attributed to the Master of the Martyrdom of St. Sebastian (Austrian) Date: probably mid-17th century Culture: probably Austrian Medium: Ivory Dimensions: Overall (confirmed): H. 11 x W. 6 1/4 x D. 4 3/8 in. (27.9 x 15.9 x 11.1 cm) Classification: Sculpture-Miniature Credit Line: The Jack and Belle Linsky Collection, 1982 Accession Number: 1982.60.129 On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 537 The feats of Hercules provided sculptors with an opportunity to explore the power of the male figure in intricate action. This large group, carved fully in the round, shows the struggle between the mythological hero and one of his foes-either Antaeus or Achelous, a river god who transformed from man to bull to serpent. This work and two others in the case are attributed to an anonymous artist who carved two large relief scenes depicting the Early Christian saint Sebastian assailed by Roman bowmen. This master's work is characterized by violent and exaggerated movements, extreme emotions, and a fanatical delineation of physical details.
La Crainte des Traites de l'Amour
La Crainte des Traits de l'Amour Artist: Jean-Louis Lemoyne (French, 1665-1755) Date: 1739-40 Culture: French, Paris Medium: Marble Dimensions: Overall (confirmed): H. 71 3/4 x W. 26 1/4 x D. 36 7/8 in. (182.2 x 66.7 x 93.7 cm) Classification: Sculpture Credit Line: Purchase, Josephine Bay Paul and C. Michael Paul Foundation Inc. Gift and Charles Ulrick and Josephine Bay Foundation Inc. Gift, 1967 Accession Number: 67.197 On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 548 Like most amorous Rococo imagery, this sculpture is erotic yet somehow ambivalent in its meaning. The woman reacts with a startled, self-protective gesture as Cupid suddenly appears, to cast an arrow into her breast. At the same time, her features reveal a hypnotic attraction and her fingers seem to describe playfully the area he wishes to strike. This vision of young love seems distilled for all time even as it shows the stylistic hallmarks of the age in which it was created. The nymph's delicately off-balance pose—exceedingly fetching when viewed from the corners—is a fine piece of Rococo invention. The carving technique, in which the marble seems touched with flickering light, echoes the painting style of the era. The group was commissioned by the duc d'Antin, surintendant des bâtiments du roi, for Louis XV in 1734 or 1735 and was stored temporarily in the Louvre upon its completion. In 1762 the king gave it to the marquis de Marigny, brother of Madame de Pompadour and minister of the arts, who place it outdoors at his château, Ménars, where it remained until the late nineteenth century.
Marsyas
Marsyas Artist: Balthasar Permoser (German, Kammer, near Otting, Chiemgau, Bavaria 1651-1732 Dresden) Date: ca. 1680-85 Culture: German, executed Rome or Florence Medium: Marble on a black marble socle inlaid with light marble panels Dimensions: Overall with socle (confirmed): H. 27 x W. 17 3/8 x D. 11 1/8 in. (68.6 x 44.1 x 28.3 cm); Height of socle (confirmed): H. 6 1/4 in. (15.9 cm) Classification: Sculpture Credit Line: Rogers Fund and Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 2002 Accession Number: 2002.468 On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 548 Flayed alive after losing a musical contest to the god Apollo, the satyr Marsyas screams in the midst of his torture. Every aspect of the figure, from squinting eyes to torn tongue and flamelike hair, contributes to this image of torment. Early in his career, the sculptor Permoser worked in Florence, where this bust likely was carved. It is his personal response to Gianlorenzo Bernini's dramatic style, especially the Damned Soul of about 1619 (Palazzo di Spagna, Rome). While important sculptures by Pietro and Gianlorenzo Bernini are represented in the Museum's collection, Marsyas is our first work by Permoser, who helped to transmit the Italian Baroque style to Germany when he returned to his native Dresden.
Perseus with the Head of Medusa
Perseus with the Head of Medusa Artist: Antonio Canova (Italian, Possagno 1757-1822 Venice) Patron: Commissioned by Count Jan and Countess Valeria Tarnowski (Dzików, Poland) Date: 1804-6 Culture: Italian, Rome Medium: Marble Dimensions: Overall (confirmed): H. 95 1/2 x W. 75 1/2 x D. 40 1/2 in. (242.6 x 191.8 x 102.9 cm) Classification: Sculpture Credit Line: Fletcher Fund, 1967 Accession Number: 67.110.1 On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 548 This Perseus, purchased by Countess Valeria Tarnowska of Poland, is a replica of Canova's famed marble of Perseus in the Vatican, conceived about 1790 and first shown in 1801. Based freely on the Apollo Belvedere, which had been carried off to Paris under Napoleon, it was bought by Pope Pius VII and placed upon the pedestal where the Apollo had formerly stood. In the Museum's version, Canova has refined the ornamental details and aimed for a more lyrical effect than in the Vatican Perseus, a stylistic streamlining characteristic of his artistic process. Medusa's head is based on that of the antique Rondanini Medusa.
Ugolino and His Sons
Ugolino and His Sons Artist: Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (French, Valenciennes 1827-1875 Courbevoie) Date: 1865-67 Culture: French, Paris Medium: Saint-Béat marble Dimensions: Overall (confirmed): 77 3/4 × 59 × 43 1/2 in., 4955 lb. (197.5 × 149.9 × 110.5 cm, 2247.6 kg); Pedestal (wt. confirmed): 3759 lb. (1705.1 kg) Classification: Sculpture Credit Line: Purchase, Josephine Bay Paul and C. Michael Paul Foundation Inc. Gift, Charles Ulrick and Josephine Bay Foundation Inc. Gift, and Fletcher Fund, 1967 Accession Number: 67.250 On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 548 The subject of this intensely Romantic work is derived from canto XXXIII of Dante's Inferno, which describes how the Pisan traitor Count Ugolino della Gherardesca, his sons, and his grandsons were imprisoned in 1288 and died of starvation. Carpeaux's visionary statue, executed in 1865-67, reflects the artist's passionate reverence for Michelangelo, specifically for The Last Judgment (1536-41) in the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican, Rome, as well as his own painstaking concern with anatomical realism.
