Hermaphrodite, (sculpture)

Object Details

artist

Unknown

Unknown (Antique artist) (copy after)

Appears in exhibition catalog as entry no. VII

In the person of Pandora were united all the perfections of her sex, but these were eclipsed by the superior excellencies of HermAphrodite, the son of Venus and Hermes . . . who to the unrivalled beauty of his mother, united the genius, wit and elegance of his father. Such is the interesting portrait that poetry has given us of HermAphrodite, and sculpture has ventured to materialize . . . This noble competition of the poets and artists of antiquity, shows us the elevation to which the Arts had then attained. Poetry had exhausted the richness of her imagination in creating HermAphrodite--in blending the characteristics of masculine grace and beauty with the soft and swelling contour of the female form. This ideal Union warmed the genius of the sculptor and the stubborn marble under his animating chisel, started almost into existence. The masters of antiquity have left us several statues of HermAphrodite, this whose original forms the great ornament of the Borghese palace at Rome, is considered of the most perfect beauty, although that of the Florence gallery has the advantage of having the Antique Bed, with the Lion's Skin, on which the figure reposes. The mattras in this figure is a ridiculous conceit of the sculptor Bernini who restored it. . . . [Pp. 11-12.]

Account of Statues, Busts, &c. in the Collection of the Academy of Arts. New-York: Printed at the Office of the Morning Chronicle. 1803.

1876

Control number

AECI 04270007

Type

Sculptures

Exhibition Catalogs

Medium

Cast

Pre-1877 Art Exhibition Catalogue Index

Topic

Mythology--Classical--Hermaphrodite

Figure--Nude

Record ID

siris_aeci_86739

Metadata Usage (text)

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