File:Wonders of sculpture (1873) (14780490321).jpg

Identifier: wondersofsculptu00viarrich (find matches)
Title: Wonders of sculpture
Year: 1873 (1870s)
Authors: Viardot, Louis, 1800-1883
Subjects: Sculpture
Publisher: New York, Scribner, Armstrong, and Company
Contributing Library: University of California Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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the temple of Theseus at Athens ; the materialalone is different; plaster has taken the place of thewhite marble of Pentelicus. Canovas group, likethe old statue of the demi-god, is worshipped inthis temple, and its priests are a kind of policemen,who open the doors at promenade hours. Exceptfor a Grecian helmet, Theseus is nude, and israising his club, the weapon of the companion ofAlcides, to despatch the monster whom he has justthrown down at his feet. This attitude is perhapstheatrical, the ordinary fault of Canovas largecompositions, but the statue as a whole is asplendid study ; every limb, every muscle perfectlyexpresses strength in action. For my part, how-ever, I consider the finest part of the group to bethe Minotaur—if such it may still be called, nowthat sculpture, sacrificing historic truth to beautyof form, has converted the son of Pasiphae, the 234 ITALIAN SCULP TUBE. man-bull, into a man-horse, a centaur.* His actionunder the weight of Theseus, who presses his throat
Text Appearing After Image:
Fig. 48.—Theseus vanquishing the Minotaur, by Canova.(Vienna.) with the left arm and his stomach with one knee,is most happily rendered, and full of energy. The * It is possible, that in spite of tiie name given to this famousgroup, the sculptor intended to represent not Theseus slaying theMinotaur, but Theseus killing the Centaur Euiytion, who carriedoff the beautiful Hippodamia at the wedding of Pirithoiis. It is thesubject of one of the most valuable monochrome drawings on marblefound at Pompeii, and collected in the museum of Naples. ITALIAN SCULPTlHK 235 head, flung back to the crupper, which is convul-sively struggling to raise tlie double body, theheaving chest, the legs bent under him and appa-rentl) broken, the exhausted arms, which onlyretain sufficient strength to seek a support uponthe ground, all together form a splendid whole,which reminds us of the famous antique group ofthe Wrestlers, in which also the conqueror is ex-celled by the vanquished. In this part of the hu

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