La Nymphe au scorpion
Lorenzo BARTOLINI
Savigno, 1777 - Florence, 1850
La Nymphe au scorpion
Créé vers 1835, le modèle de la Nymphe au scorpion était resté dans l'atelier de Bartolini ; c'est certainement là que Charles de Beauvau en fit la commande pour la galerie de sculpture qu'il rêvait de créer dans son château d'Haroué. Demeurée à Haroué depuis son acquisition avant 1844, cette Nymphe au scorpion présente un épiderme dont la fraîcheur exceptionnelle ne fait que souligner les raffinements du travail de Bartolini. Virtuose du marbre, Bartolini créa une oeuvre qui se rattache autant à l'art italien qu'à l'art français. Ce fut d'ailleurs, aux dires de Baudelaire, le « morceau capital du Salon de sculpture » de 1845. La beauté de la ligne, qu'on a pu rapprocher de celle d'Ingres, ami de Bartolini* et comme lui grand amateur de musique, ne trahit en rien la justesse de l'observation sur le modèle vivant.
* voir son portrait par Ingres (coll. Beistegui, Aile Sully, 2e étage, salle A).
Bartolini, Lorenzo. 1777-1850
Nymph with a Scorpion
Italy, Between 1846 and 1851
Bartolini was perhaps one of the most original sculptors of the first half of the 19th century. A friend of Ingres, pupil of the painter David, Bartolini spent his youthful years in Paris and became famed for his portrait statues of Napoleon. During his later years, however, he departed from his earlier Neoclassical principles and sought a more precise representation of nature, in a style which is strongly felt in this work. Bartolini breaks up the harmony of the Classical image, allowing small distortions in the shoulders and arms. The girl's face bears a light grimace of pain from the scorpion's sting. The first marble version of this late sculpture was exhibited in Paris at the Salon of 1845 and was hugely successful. We can judge just how popular the sculpture was by the number of copies now to be found in various museums around the world. The Hermitage example was commissioned by Tsar Nicholas I, who visited Bartolini's studio at the end of 1845. Work was begun by the master himself but it was completed after his death by Giovanni Dupré, one of the best Bartolini's pupils
La Nymphe au scorpion
Lorenzo BARTOLINI
Savigno, 1777 - Florence, 1850
La Nymphe au scorpion
Créé vers 1835, le modèle de la Nymphe au scorpion était resté dans l'atelier de Bartolini ; c'est certainement là que Charles de Beauvau en fit la commande pour la galerie de sculpture qu'il rêvait de créer dans son château d'Haroué. Demeurée à Haroué depuis son acquisition avant 1844, cette Nymphe au scorpion présente un épiderme dont la fraîcheur exceptionnelle ne fait que souligner les raffinements du travail de Bartolini. Virtuose du marbre, Bartolini créa une oeuvre qui se rattache autant à l'art italien qu'à l'art français. Ce fut d'ailleurs, aux dires de Baudelaire, le « morceau capital du Salon de sculpture » de 1845. La beauté de la ligne, qu'on a pu rapprocher de celle d'Ingres, ami de Bartolini* et comme lui grand amateur de musique, ne trahit en rien la justesse de l'observation sur le modèle vivant.
* voir son portrait par Ingres (coll. Beistegui, Aile Sully, 2e étage, salle A).
Bartolini, Lorenzo. 1777-1850
Nymph with a Scorpion
Italy, Between 1846 and 1851
Bartolini was perhaps one of the most original sculptors of the first half of the 19th century. A friend of Ingres, pupil of the painter David, Bartolini spent his youthful years in Paris and became famed for his portrait statues of Napoleon. During his later years, however, he departed from his earlier Neoclassical principles and sought a more precise representation of nature, in a style which is strongly felt in this work. Bartolini breaks up the harmony of the Classical image, allowing small distortions in the shoulders and arms. The girl's face bears a light grimace of pain from the scorpion's sting. The first marble version of this late sculpture was exhibited in Paris at the Salon of 1845 and was hugely successful. We can judge just how popular the sculpture was by the number of copies now to be found in various museums around the world. The Hermitage example was commissioned by Tsar Nicholas I, who visited Bartolini's studio at the end of 1845. Work was begun by the master himself but it was completed after his death by Giovanni Dupré, one of the best Bartolini's pupils