Plaster Bust of Helen
Plaster Bust of Helen
3D
Published 2020-06-10T11:35:32+00:00
In this beloved marble view
Above the works and thoughts of Man
What Nature could but would not, do,
And Beauty and Canova can!
Beyond Imagination’s power
Beyond the Bard’s defeated art,
With Immortality her dower,
Behold the Helen of the heart.
(Lord Byron, 1816, after seeing Canova’s marble Helen.)
Canova’s cool, cerebral compositions, combined with his dazzling technical skills as a carver, made him the most celebrated sculptor of the 19th century. The effect of his sculptures, which were almost always pure white, immediately evokes ideal images of Ancient Greece and Rome. The late 18th and early 19th century was a time of extreme turbulence and political and social chaos. Ruling dynasty’s and empires vanished and new ones appeared, as if overnight, and yet these calm and controlled gods and goddesses, warriors and heroines of the Ancient world, remain above the fray and must have been aesthetically calming to collectors and looking to the past for reassurance.
Canova was searching for ideal beauty – something we see again and again in his sculpture, especially his busts – and in Paris and Helen he achieved it. They remain as perfectly beautiful today as they were when they were created in 1812.
One of two sculptures depicting Paris and Helen. Model by Antonio Canova (1757-1822) and cast by Vincenzo Malpieri, Paris.
| Date de publication | 10/06/2020 |
| Complexité | Medium |
| Titre | Plaster Bust of Helen |
| Date | ca. 1812 |
| Dimension | Height, 67 cm |
| Accession | Private Collection |
| Période | Neoclassical |
| Medium | Plaster |
| Record | https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot/a-pair-of-plaster-busts-of-paris-6228722-details.aspx |
| Artiste | Antonio Canova |
| Localisation | Unknown Private Collection |
I always wondered how sculpts would look like if painted. This started when I was told that the sculpts in the metope of Parthenon where painted and what remains today is the decoloured marble after many ages.
Some times I just try to paint, but in other cases, something provocative comes into my mind and I follow a more creative path. In any case, enjoy!
More on my creative journeys at:
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