Jason and the Golden Fleece, by Bertel Thorvaldsen (Jason et la Toison d'Or)

This beautiful Jason with the Golden Fleece, male hero from the Greek mythology, was sculpted by Bertel Thorvaldsen, a Danish sculptor mentioned before in this blog for his Ganymède and his Achille.

This sculpture is considered by many as the masterpiece of Thorvaldsen’s work. It was initially done in clay, life size, in 1802, to show his sculpting ability to the Copenhagen Academy. The nude aspect of the sculpture may have been inspired by the Apollo Belvedere, sculpture that we mentioned previously in this blog as part of the male art in the Vatican.

Bertel Thorvaldsen, from Denmark, is born in 1770, and died in 1844. He spent a major part of his life in Italy (Rome), and would be in the line of the best neoclassicists sculptors, like the Italian Antonio Canova. Canova who apparently was impressed by the Jason sculpture (see 19th century art website in the sources).

Painting of Bertel Thorvaldsen by Rudolf Suhrlandt - 1810 - detail

Drawing of Thorvalden 'Jason' sculpture, by Ferdinando Mori - 1809

Thorvaldsen received a commission from Thomas Hope, a British art lover, to sculpt his Jason in marble, larger than the clay model, and this sculpture of 242 cm (95 inches) will take 25 years to be achieved. The long and exciting story of it can be read in detail here. The marble sculpture was purchased by the Thorvaldsen Museum in 1917, at an auction following Hope's death.

The only known sketch of Jason done by Thorvaldsen - c.1800-1802

Below is a lithograph, dated 1872, made by Thorvald Jensen, showing Thomas Hope arriving in Thorvaldsen' studio to buy Jason with the Golden Fleece.

For those interested in the Greek mythology of Jason's legend: ''Jason was a Greek mythological prince whose wicked uncle Pelias had unjustly taken power from Jason’s father, King Aison. To win back the throne, Jason needed to obtain the Golden Fleece, which was guarded by a dangerous dragon in a far-off land. Jason sailed off with his men to find it, and after surviving numerous dangers and challenges, the brave young man and his comrades finally found the Fleece; this sculpture depicts the proud Jason at the moment where, with the Fleece draped over his arm, he is going down to the ship that will return him to his fatherland.
The Fleece was magical, and guaranteed fertility and wealth to the land that possessed it – so by obtaining it, Jason established that he was not only a prince in name, but indeed, equipped to rule his land in the best possible way. The notion that a person’s station in society is not determined by inherited privileges, but by his or her human abilities, is a fundamental democratic principle. As is well known, classical Greece was the cradle of democracy, and Thorvaldsen’s Jason made its appearance on the artistic scene at precisely the moment when pro-democracy sentiment was making a powerful impact in Europe."

The Copenhagen Thorvaldsen Museum :

As published in the Anderson guide in 1887

The Library

The Danish Post Office decided to create the first Danish Art Stamp with his name, to celebrate his return to Denmark, and his nomination as Citizen of Honour in Copenhagen.

• Denmark 1938. The Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen, after a painting by C.W. Eckersberg.
• Denmark 1938. Sculpture by Bertel Thorvaldsen, "Jason with the Golden Fleece".  

 

Sources:
Wikipedia
The Thorvaldsen Museum
The Hope Commission story


19th century art website 

Achille & Patrocle (3) in contemporary sculpture & other art

To start 2016, lets continue with our famous loving couple of Achille & Patrocle! And lets have a look at how this love was expressed in more recent time. In terms of sculpture, or more precisely bas-relief,  there is one portraying Achille & Patrocle, sculpted by Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770-1844).

And for the pleasure of the eyes, some more bas reliefs from Thorvaldsen with Achille! Like below, called Briseis and Achille.

And this one, called Chiron and Achilles, was done in plaster initially, around 1888-1990. The centaur Chiron, half man half horse, teached medicine to Aesculapius, and Achille learned to play the lyre from him.  

And the last sculpted bas-relief selected from Thorvaldsen is Priam who pleads with Achille for Hector's body.

Bertel Thorvaldsen did also some drawings, like the one below showing Chiron teaching the young Achille in archery.

In more contemporary sculptures, I have found this one made by SERRA, 'Achille & Patrocle'.

And also this one, entitled Achille crying Patrocle death, sculpted by Guy van den Steen (1906-1999), which sit on one side of the entrance of his previous castle of Jehay, near Liège (Belgium), castle now sold to the city of Liege.

In terms of painting, and to end with the 20th century, here is one from the American painter David Ligare, done in 1986. 'Achille and the body of Patrocle'.

Sources:
Blog Les diagonales du temps
Blog Le chateau de jehay   
Wikipedia
Thorvaldsen Museum

Ganymede, the cutest young man on Earth (2) other sculptures types, mosaic, etc.

Ganymede, and his rapt by Zeus, was often represented in the arts, through sculptures as we have seen earlier, and with other media as well. So below are some of these various depictions, in bas-reliefs, mosaic, paintings, drawings. The next post will show Ganymede used in more contemporary media.

Hebe gives the cup and pitcher to Ganymede - Bas-relief by Thorvaldsen - 1833
Thorvaldsen Museum - Copenhagen
 

Ganymede feeding the eagle - Hermitage Museum - St Petersburg -
Picture by S Sosnovskiy 

 

Ganymedes & the Eagle, Greco-Roman fresco
C3rd A.D., Kato Paphos Archaeological Park

 

Zeus & Ganymède, by Eucharidès, V^e c. BC, Metropolitan Museum, NYC.



Ganymede by Rubens - Schwartzenberg Palace, Vienna, Austria.



Wall decoration at Hamburger Kunsthalle - Germany

Drawing by Michelangelo Buonarotti - Collection Her Majesty Queen Elisabeth II

Drawing by Michelangelo Buonarotti - Collection Her Majesty Queen Elisabeth II

 

                     

Ganymede, the cutest young man on Earth (1) sculptures

Ganymede was known to be the most handsome young man on Earth. Several stories circulate about Ganymede myth, they usually converge on the fact he was very handsome, like a Young God, and Zeus felt in love with him the day he saw him playing on the fields of Troy and Mount Ida.



Sculpture from Ernst Seger, Germany - Hearst Estate - San Simeon - California.
Picture from Saint Plan



Sculpture by Thorvaldsen -Minneapolis Institute of Arts

Thorvaldsen sculpture - Copenhagen

                    
Reportedly Zeus transformed himself into an eagle, and grabbed the boy. The two arrived fast to Mount Olympus. ''The eagle folded his wings, shook himself once and turned back into a god. He took Ganymede to bed and then appointed him cup bearer.''

Sculpture from Benvenuto Cellini - Florence - Italy

Sculpture by Adamo Tadolini 1788 -1868 in Hermitage Museum - St Petersburg.
Photo by Ayir Heklai.

Same - detail

                                 

Sculpture by Pierre Julien 1731-1804 Louvre Museum - Paris.
Picture by K. Ignatidis

Ganymede's father, Tros, cried endless tears after the loss of his son, not knowing what happened. Zeus was moved by his pain, and sent down Hermes as messenger, who let Tros know his boy was now among the gods, immortal and forever young. Zeus gave Tros in exchange for his son two beautiful and strong white horses able to walk on water, the very same that carry the immortals. Tros’ heart was filled with joy and he drove his new horses as fast as the wind.

 

''Zeus, grateful for Ganymede’s love, made a place for him among the stars as Aquarius – the Water Bearer. There he still stands, smiling, pouring nectar and shielded to this day by the wing of the Eagle constellation.''



Burkli Platz - Zurich - Switzerland. Hermann Hubacher

 Ganymede's sculptures

Several sculptures were made to glorify or illustrate the love between Zeus and Ganymede, or Ganymede's rapt, by famous sculptors like Michelangelo or Cellini. 

Benvenuto Cellini - Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence - Italy.

 

Benvenuto Cellini - Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence - Italy

 

Hermitage Museum - St Petersburg

In Italy, some sculptures can be seen at the Vatican museum, at the Uffizzi in Florence, and at the archeological museum of Naples. Other sculptures are in various Europe's museums, like St Petersburg Hermitage, or Copenhagen, or Louvre in Paris.

At the Archeological Museum of Naples

Found in the remains of a villa Via Prenestina - Rome - Italy 

 

Other art media

Ganymede is also represented on other media by famous ancient artists (Le Titien, Rembrandt, Michelangelo, Rubens) as well as contemporary (Pierre & Gilles and others) and this will be the subject of another post. In litterature, the myth is mentioned by Virgile, Plato, Ovide, and more recently by Goethe, Cavafy. 

An extensive collection of Ganymede's portraits, drawings, engravings, and sculptures can be seen here.   http://gayekfansi.blogspot.com/2011/08/blog-post_31.html?zx=11813a29d6afba63