Pygmalion and the Image: The Heart Desires | |
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Artist | Edward Burne-Jones |
Year | 1875 | –78
Medium | oil on canvas |
Dimensions | 99 cm× 76.3 cm(39 in× 30.0 in) |
Location | Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery |
Pygmalion and the Image is the second series of four oil paintings in the Pygmalion and Galatea series by the Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones which was completed between 1875 and 1878. The two collections may be seen below, in the Gallery, the first being now owned by Lord Lloyd Webber, [1] and the second housed at the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery. This article deals with an appraisal of the second series.
As seen above right (1st image), this is the first of four paintings in the artist's second Pygmalion and Galatea series. This first series, which dates back to 1867–1870, used harsher tones, darker colours and less fluid lines – as may be seen in the Gallery below. This second version, despite being painted in oils, has the sheen and soft tones of chalk.
The story tells of Pygmalion, a sculptor of Cyprus, the birthplace of Aphrodite. It was first related in Ovid's Metamorphoses , although by the time of this series, William Morris had written his own version of the story. [2]
Pygmalion is seen here in his studio, pondering his lonely life, having chosen to remain celibate in disgust at what he saw as the debauched lifestyles of the local women. The statues behind him (in emulation of the Three Graces) echo the curious women peering in through his doorway. All five seem fluid, languorous and unself-conscious. Pygmalion, looking above the proliferation of ankles, thighs and buttocks reflected on the floor and pedestal in front of him, is pondering his next creation. His gaze ignores the women around him as he sees in his mind a statue of the perfect female. [3]
In this second picture, Pygmalion's perfect woman is revealed. Playing God, he has created woman and now stands back to admire her, holding the cold chisel against his face as though scared to touch his creation again. The sculptor's expression is softer than The Heart Desires – a look which betrays that he has fallen in love with a woman made of marble. [4]
In spite of his scorning of Aphrodite, Pygmalion has created Galatea in a classical Venusian stance. However, unlike the three statues and two living women in the first picture above, Galatea appears embarrassedly conscious of her nudity – in the act of attempting to cover herself. Pygmalion, despite his contempt for the local women, deliberately created her nude and now takes on the role of voyeur . Although Pygmalion is seen looking, rather than touching, the various tools around the base of the statue show how much work he has done to bring the statue to this finished state. In creating Galatea, he has used a hard mallet, chisel and file as well as an almost transparent, soft-bristled brush.
In Ovid's version of the story, the scene is set while Pygmalion is at the temple of Aphrodite, praying for forgiveness for the years he has shunned her and begging for a wife as perfect as his marble woman. In his absence, Aphrodite appears in the studio to impart life to Galatea. In physical terms, the painting shows little difference between the two women: the same, unattainable facial expression; the marble colouring; the Amazonian stature. Ironically, their interlaced arms and Aphrodite's penetrating gaze emulate the intertwined women, so despised by Pygmalion, in The Heart Desires.
Aphrodite is identified by the presence of doves and roses – symbols commonly linked with the goddess – and the water at her feet, reminiscent of her birth, fully formed, from the sea. This also represents Galatea's birth, fully formed, as a woman. In a scene that is strongly evocative of Michelangelo's Creation painting on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the goddess adds colour and sensuality to Pygmalion's austere studio and Galatea's soft flesh. [5] The rich-colour drapery, wrapped suggestively around an intricately carved pole at left, is noticeably absent from the other images in the series. [6]
When Pygmalion returns home, he finds that his statue has come to life and humbles himself at her feet.
This was not Burne-Jones' only series of pictures: others include The Briar Rose series (1885–1890), which was based on Charles Perrault's fairy tale, Sleeping Beauty (as retold by the Brothers Grimm), and Burne-Jones' spectacular Cupid and Psyche frieze. Although not imbued with the depth and texture of The Merciful Knight (1863), this second attempt at portraying the tale of Pygmalion and Galatea has become regarded as one of the artist's most important works. It was exhibited at Sir Coutt Lindsay's new Grosvenor Gallery in 1879, thereby establishing Burne-Jones as one of the leading artists in the burgeoning Aesthetic Movement. [7]
A c. 1870 pencil on paper study for the work is in The New Art Gallery Walsall. [8]
Pygmalion(first series)
Pygmalion and the Image(second series)
Galatea is an ancient Greek name meaning "she who is milk-white".
Pygmalion or Pigmalion may refer to:
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, was a British painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood which included Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Millais, Ford Madox Brown and William Holman Hunt. Burne-Jones worked with William Morris as a founding partner in Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co in the design of decorative arts.
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BM&AG) is a museum and art gallery in Birmingham, England. It has a collection of international importance covering fine art, ceramics, metalwork, jewellery, natural history, archaeology, ethnography, local history and industrial history.
Galatea is a name popularly applied to the statue carved of ivory by Pygmalion of Cyprus, which then came to life in Greek mythology. In modern English, the name usually alludes to that story.
Jane Morris was an English embroiderer in the Arts and Crafts movement and artists' model who embodied the Pre-Raphaelite ideal of beauty. She was a model and muse to her husband William Morris and to Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Her sister was embroiderer and teacher Elizabeth Burden.
In Greek mythology, Pygmalion was a legendary figure of Cyprus, who was a king and a sculptor. He is most familiar from Ovid's narrative poem Metamorphoses, in which Pygmalion was a sculptor who fell in love with a statue he had carved.
William Graham, Liberal MP for Glasgow, was a Scottish politician, wine merchant, cotton manufacturer and port shipper. He is remembered as a patron of Pre-Raphaelite artists like Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti and a collector of their works.
Frederick Hollyer was an English photographer and engraver known for his photographic reproductions of paintings and drawings, particularly those of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and for portraits of literary and artistic figures of late Victorian and Edwardian London.
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Pygmalion; or, The Statue Fair is a play by William Brough that was advertised as a farcical musical burlesque. It was first produced in 1867, and revived in March 1872.
Maria Zambaco, born Marie Terpsithea Cassavetti, was a British artist's model of Greek descent, favoured by the Pre-Raphaelites. She was also a sculptor.
The Merciful Knight is a watercolour by the pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones which was completed in 1863 and is currently housed at the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery.
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The Garden of Pan is a painting by the pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones which was completed around 1886 and is currently housed at the National Gallery of Victoria.
Pygmalion and Galatea is an 1890 painting by the French artist Jean-Léon Gérôme. The motif is taken from Ovid's Metamorphoses and depicts the sculptor Pygmalion kissing his statue Galatea at the moment the goddess Aphrodite brings her to life.
Pygmalion and Galatea are two characters from Greco-Roman mythology.
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