London 2012: Victoria & Albert Museum #13
From Wikipedia:
Neptune and Triton is an early sculpture by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
It was executed c. 1622–1623. Carved from marble, it stands 182.2 cm (71.7 in) in height.
Originally, the sculpture was commissioned by Cardinal Peretti Montalto, serving as a fountain to decorate the pond in the garden of his Villa Peretti Montalto on the Esquiline Hill in Rome. It was purchased by the Englishman Thomas Jenkins in 1786, from whom it was purchased later that year by the painter Joshua Reynolds. After Reynolds's death in 1792 it was sold to Charles Pelham, who kept it in the garden of his home in Chelsea, London, Walpole House. His descendants moved it in 1906 to their country house, Brocklesby Park, Lincolnshire. It was bought from the family by the Museum in 1950.
Bernini’s Neptune and Triton references the mythological characters of Neptune (or Poseidon) and his son Triton, as rulers of the seas. Neptune and Triton are deities that appear relatively briefly in classical literature; however, their positions in the cosmos is deemed important as controllers of the earth and seas. It is a common modern misconception to attribute Neptune to just the seas; however, in Greek myth Neptune is the ruler of earth and all it possesses, just as Zeus is the ruler of the heavens and Hades is the ruler of the Underworld. Triton is actually the character attributed to ruler of (just) the seas.
Neptune and Triton are often depicted in water-like settings, holding tridents and usually driving chariots that have horses shooting out from the water. Bernini’s sculpture gives a slightly different representation of the duo. The story depicted in the sculpture was that Neptune was rescuing the Aenean fleet from the raging seas. Although Bernini changed the interpretation of the myth, he focused more on the body language of Neptune and Triton than the actual story of the myth itself. In the myth, Neptune comes from beneath the seas to split the ships with his trident. Bernini flipped the appearance of the scene and made Neptune point the trident downwards instead and did not even display the ships from the Aenean fleet. This is represented as though Neptune is commanding from above the seas rather than beneath like the ancient myth says.
Neptune
In Bernini’s sculpture, you see Neptune towering over Triton. He appears to be a man in his prime (early thirties) wearing a beard and wavy locks. Neptune has his legs spread apart and is balancing on a large seashell that carries both Neptune and Triton. Neptune only has a large sheet covering his right shoulder and gliding in between his legs, revealing parts of the male anatomy. The anatomy of the entire body is defined and the twisting of his torso gives him a more trimmed outline of his muscles, allowing the viewer to pay particular attention to his muscles and how they are contracted or relaxed in his state of movement. While standing, Neptune also holds a trident downward in motion that makes it look like he is about to thrust it at someone. “(H)e turns his angry look towards the water, which gushes forth at his feet, imposing his command by thrusting down with his trident.”[4] His arms are tense, forcefully gripping it to dictate his divine power. There is an implication of wind in the long sheet and Neptune’s hair drift backwards, giving the illusion of a natural reality.
Triton
Triton, Neptune’s son, is positioned below Neptune’s legs, thrusting himself forward to blow the conch shell. He is noticeably younger, maybe a teen-aged boy that has defined muscles as well. He has some definition in his anatomy to make him look like someone of importance; however Bernini reflected the realism into the young man’s appearance naturally so that he is not idealized, but rather a real person bursting forth out of the water. He blows his shell as a horn to declare that the king of the earth and oceans is approaching, again re-iterating the myth’s aspect of Neptune’s power and history. Triton grasps Neptune’s leg and ducks his left shoulder between the thighs of Neptune.
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A), is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects.
Named after Prince Albert and Queen Victoria, it was founded in 1852, and has since grown to cover 12.5 acres (51,000 m2) and 145 galleries. Its collection spans 5,000 years of art, from ancient times to the present day, in virtually every medium, from the cultures of Europe, North America, Asia and North Africa. The museum is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
The holdings of ceramics, glass, textiles, costumes, silver, ironwork, jewellery, furniture, medieval objects, sculpture, prints and printmaking, drawings and photographs are among the largest, important and most comprehensive in the world. The museum possesses the world's largest collection of post-classical sculpture, the holdings of Italian Renaissance items are the largest outside Italy. The departments of Asia include art from South Asia, China, Japan, Korea and the Islamic world. The East Asian collections are among the best in Europe, with particular strengths in ceramics and metalwork, while the Islamic collection, alongside the British Museum, Musée du Louvre and Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, is amongst the largest in the Western world.
Set in the Brompton district of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, neighbouring institutions include the Natural History Museum and Science Museum.
London 2012: Victoria & Albert Museum #13
From Wikipedia:
Neptune and Triton is an early sculpture by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
It was executed c. 1622–1623. Carved from marble, it stands 182.2 cm (71.7 in) in height.
Originally, the sculpture was commissioned by Cardinal Peretti Montalto, serving as a fountain to decorate the pond in the garden of his Villa Peretti Montalto on the Esquiline Hill in Rome. It was purchased by the Englishman Thomas Jenkins in 1786, from whom it was purchased later that year by the painter Joshua Reynolds. After Reynolds's death in 1792 it was sold to Charles Pelham, who kept it in the garden of his home in Chelsea, London, Walpole House. His descendants moved it in 1906 to their country house, Brocklesby Park, Lincolnshire. It was bought from the family by the Museum in 1950.
Bernini’s Neptune and Triton references the mythological characters of Neptune (or Poseidon) and his son Triton, as rulers of the seas. Neptune and Triton are deities that appear relatively briefly in classical literature; however, their positions in the cosmos is deemed important as controllers of the earth and seas. It is a common modern misconception to attribute Neptune to just the seas; however, in Greek myth Neptune is the ruler of earth and all it possesses, just as Zeus is the ruler of the heavens and Hades is the ruler of the Underworld. Triton is actually the character attributed to ruler of (just) the seas.
Neptune and Triton are often depicted in water-like settings, holding tridents and usually driving chariots that have horses shooting out from the water. Bernini’s sculpture gives a slightly different representation of the duo. The story depicted in the sculpture was that Neptune was rescuing the Aenean fleet from the raging seas. Although Bernini changed the interpretation of the myth, he focused more on the body language of Neptune and Triton than the actual story of the myth itself. In the myth, Neptune comes from beneath the seas to split the ships with his trident. Bernini flipped the appearance of the scene and made Neptune point the trident downwards instead and did not even display the ships from the Aenean fleet. This is represented as though Neptune is commanding from above the seas rather than beneath like the ancient myth says.
Neptune
In Bernini’s sculpture, you see Neptune towering over Triton. He appears to be a man in his prime (early thirties) wearing a beard and wavy locks. Neptune has his legs spread apart and is balancing on a large seashell that carries both Neptune and Triton. Neptune only has a large sheet covering his right shoulder and gliding in between his legs, revealing parts of the male anatomy. The anatomy of the entire body is defined and the twisting of his torso gives him a more trimmed outline of his muscles, allowing the viewer to pay particular attention to his muscles and how they are contracted or relaxed in his state of movement. While standing, Neptune also holds a trident downward in motion that makes it look like he is about to thrust it at someone. “(H)e turns his angry look towards the water, which gushes forth at his feet, imposing his command by thrusting down with his trident.”[4] His arms are tense, forcefully gripping it to dictate his divine power. There is an implication of wind in the long sheet and Neptune’s hair drift backwards, giving the illusion of a natural reality.
Triton
Triton, Neptune’s son, is positioned below Neptune’s legs, thrusting himself forward to blow the conch shell. He is noticeably younger, maybe a teen-aged boy that has defined muscles as well. He has some definition in his anatomy to make him look like someone of importance; however Bernini reflected the realism into the young man’s appearance naturally so that he is not idealized, but rather a real person bursting forth out of the water. He blows his shell as a horn to declare that the king of the earth and oceans is approaching, again re-iterating the myth’s aspect of Neptune’s power and history. Triton grasps Neptune’s leg and ducks his left shoulder between the thighs of Neptune.
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A), is the world's largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects.
Named after Prince Albert and Queen Victoria, it was founded in 1852, and has since grown to cover 12.5 acres (51,000 m2) and 145 galleries. Its collection spans 5,000 years of art, from ancient times to the present day, in virtually every medium, from the cultures of Europe, North America, Asia and North Africa. The museum is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
The holdings of ceramics, glass, textiles, costumes, silver, ironwork, jewellery, furniture, medieval objects, sculpture, prints and printmaking, drawings and photographs are among the largest, important and most comprehensive in the world. The museum possesses the world's largest collection of post-classical sculpture, the holdings of Italian Renaissance items are the largest outside Italy. The departments of Asia include art from South Asia, China, Japan, Korea and the Islamic world. The East Asian collections are among the best in Europe, with particular strengths in ceramics and metalwork, while the Islamic collection, alongside the British Museum, Musée du Louvre and Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City, is amongst the largest in the Western world.
Set in the Brompton district of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, neighbouring institutions include the Natural History Museum and Science Museum.