Ganymede and the Eagle
Artist
Bertel Thorvaldsen
(Danish, 1770 - 1844)
CultureDanish
Dateca. 1815-17
MediumMarble
DimensionsOverall: 32 3/8 x 41 3/4 x 16 1/8 in. (82.2 x 106 x 41 cm)
InscribedNo inscription
Credit LineThe Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, Gift of James H. Ricau and Museum purchase
Object number86.525
On View
Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 208
Label TextBertel Thorvaldsen Danish, 1770–1844 Ganymede and the Eagle, ca. 1815–17 Marble According to Greek myth, Ganymede, the beautiful prince of Troy, caught the eye of the great god Zeus, who fell in love with the boy. Disguising himself as an eagle, Zeus carried the young prince off to Olympus, where he served as cupbearer to the gods. The contrast seen here between the boy’s soft skin and the bird’s rugged feathers enhances the story’s theme of innocence in the grip of cosmic cunning. With suave, psychologically intense works like this one, Bertel Thorvaldsen influenced a generation of Neoclassical sculptors whose works can be seen nearby. Gift of James H. Ricau and Museum purchase 86.525 Exhibition History"The Ricau Collection," The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Va., February 26 - April 23, 1989. Published ReferencesRobert Rosenblum, painting and H. W. Janson, sculpture, _19th-Century Art_ (Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Education, Inc., 2005), 114, fig. 101. ISBN: 0-13-189614-8, 0-13-189562-1 Sotheby's, _Antiquities_, sale no. 8104, auction cat., June 7, 2005, New York, N.Y., lot 48, 50-51. H. Nichols B. Clark, _A Marble Quarry: The James H. Ricau Collection of Sculpture at The Chrysler Museum of Art_ (New York: Hudson Hills Press, Inc., 1997), 43-45, no. 1. ISBN: 1-55595-131-7
Joseph Gott
800-1000
