The Child Canova Modeling a Lion out of Butter
Artist
Pinckney Marcius-Simons
(American, 1865 - 1909)
Dateca. 1885
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions23 3/4 × 29 in. (60.3 × 73.7 cm)
Framed: 32 13/16 × 37 7/8 × 3 1/2 in. (83.3 × 96.2 × 8.9 cm)
Framed: 32 13/16 × 37 7/8 × 3 1/2 in. (83.3 × 96.2 × 8.9 cm)
ClassificationsAmerican art
Credit LineGift of the Mowbray Arch Society
Object number2014.14
On View
Not on viewLabel TextPinckney Marcius-Simons American. 1865-1909 The Child Canova Modeling a Lion out of Butter, ca. 1885 Oil on canvas This painting takes us back to a fabled scene from the 1760s, where preparations for a feast are underway in the kitchen of an Italian palace. One of the servants, a 10-year-old boy, has volunteered to carve a butter sculpture of a lion as the centerpiece for the banquet table. The cooks marvel at his lifelike creation, clearly the work of a child prodigy. This little artist grew up to be the world's leading sculptor, Antonio Canova (1757-1822), and his statues of warriors, nymphs, and lions inspired Hiram Powers, William Henry Rinehart, and dozens of later artists to study marble-carving and embrace the Neoclassical style. Gift of the Mowbray Arch Society 2014.14
Unknown
