log in
Enter site
Login to use Arthive functionality to the maximum
Pygmalion and Galatea
Jean-Leon Jerome • Painting, 1890, 88.9×68.6 cm
Description of the artwork «Pygmalion and Galatea»
“Pygmalion and Galatea” (French: Pygmalion et Galatée) is a painting by the French artist Jean-Leon Jerome, written by him in 1890.
In 1878, Jerome became interested in sculpture, which showed his interest in ancient Greek art. Like most sculptors of the 19th century, Jerome first sculpted a full-size gypsum model, according to which he carved a finished statue from marble. Between 1890 and 1893, Jerome created several pictorial and sculptural variations of the “battered” theme of the tale of Pygmalion and Galatea from Ovid's Metamorphosis poem, which tells a large number of myths about how gods give life to figures made of earth and stone. It was this story that turned out to be suitable for implementation by Jerome as an academician, striving for meticulous accuracy in the details, because of which the sculpture may seem alive.
The lone Cypriot sculptor Pygmalion could not find his love in any way, being disappointed with the vices and imperfections of mortal women, as a result of which he began to carve a life-size female statue from marble, in which his ideal would be embodied, impossible among ordinary mortals. The more time he spent at the statue, the more he became attached to her, kissing and hugging her, but realizing that his beautiful creation was only a hard and cold stone. Desperate, Pygmalion went to a festival dedicated to the goddess of beauty and love, Venus, where he asked her to find him a statue similar to a statue, not daring to say about his desire to revive a marble woman. Venus, having heard the prayer of Pygmalion and knowing about his true desire, decided to fulfill his dream. When Pygmalion returned home, he climbed the pedestal to the stone statue and, as before, kissed her, expecting the same usual cold sensation. However, his lips felt warm, and the hard stone under his hands began to soften and respond to his touch. In a sense of amazement and delight, the sculptor continued to kiss and hug his revived creation, assuring himself that the desire of his whole life was not just a dream.
The picture shows the most striking and characteristic moment of the myth, when the conflict between the cold stiffness of the statue and the soft heat of a skilled stone-carver is replaced by Pygmalion’s understanding that he revived Galatea with his kiss. The first look at the picture immediately goes to a completely naked woman statue as the lightest and most contrasting figure, which is the center of the canvas. Galatea stands with his back to the viewer on a special turning platform, behind which the sculptor worked. On the base of the statue at her feet is a stone-carved fish, which is a hint of Jerome that Galatea appears in Greek mythology as a sea nymph. The transformation of hard stone into living flesh begins just above Galatea's knees, thus gently dividing her body into a living warm pink upper and cold white lower parts. Pygmalion, standing at the tip of his toes on a wooden box, reaches for Galatea, kissing passionately and hugging her tightly. Galatea, bending over, responds with a hug to Pygmalion's energetic impulse, a sign of which is a fluttering working blue toga and a hammer lying on the floor, dropped after he realized that the wish had come true. In the upper right corner, the god of love Amur hovers in the air, pointing an arrow at a happy couple.
To the left of Galatea is a step ladder, correlated with the position of the legs of Pygmalion and Galatea, as if they would continue to move at some point in their arms. Directly opposite Pygmalion, on the left of Galatea, there is another wooden box, introducing a certain amount of symmetry to the bottom of the picture in the presence of a strong diagonal axis created by the location of the stairs. On the right side of the picture, a warrior’s shield is leaning against the wall, symbolizing a certain sacrifice of what is happening and a victory over death. On the shelf are two theatrical masks with hypertrophied facial features - male and female, representing a traditional couple of comedy and tragedy, hinting at a certain theatricality of the plot and the simplicity of emotions. On the left side of the picture, the regiment continues, and on it are three figurines related to the plot of this myth: a bust of Diana, personifying the chaste modesty that Pygmalion was looking for among the dissolved Cypriot women; a mother hugging her child is a symbol of motherhood and a reference to Galatea with her son Paphos, born of Pygmalion; a woman sitting in an armchair and holding a mirror in her hand represents the despised Pygmalion conceited Cypriots who care only about their beauty. Above the statuettes hangs a picture depicting pastoral life in ancient Greece.
In 1878, Jerome became interested in sculpture, which showed his interest in ancient Greek art. Like most sculptors of the 19th century, Jerome first sculpted a full-size gypsum model, according to which he carved a finished statue from marble. Between 1890 and 1893, Jerome created several pictorial and sculptural variations of the “battered” theme of the tale of Pygmalion and Galatea from Ovid's Metamorphosis poem, which tells a large number of myths about how gods give life to figures made of earth and stone. It was this story that turned out to be suitable for implementation by Jerome as an academician, striving for meticulous accuracy in the details, because of which the sculpture may seem alive.
The lone Cypriot sculptor Pygmalion could not find his love in any way, being disappointed with the vices and imperfections of mortal women, as a result of which he began to carve a life-size female statue from marble, in which his ideal would be embodied, impossible among ordinary mortals. The more time he spent at the statue, the more he became attached to her, kissing and hugging her, but realizing that his beautiful creation was only a hard and cold stone. Desperate, Pygmalion went to a festival dedicated to the goddess of beauty and love, Venus, where he asked her to find him a statue similar to a statue, not daring to say about his desire to revive a marble woman. Venus, having heard the prayer of Pygmalion and knowing about his true desire, decided to fulfill his dream. When Pygmalion returned home, he climbed the pedestal to the stone statue and, as before, kissed her, expecting the same usual cold sensation. However, his lips felt warm, and the hard stone under his hands began to soften and respond to his touch. In a sense of amazement and delight, the sculptor continued to kiss and hug his revived creation, assuring himself that the desire of his whole life was not just a dream.
The picture shows the most striking and characteristic moment of the myth, when the conflict between the cold stiffness of the statue and the soft heat of a skilled stone-carver is replaced by Pygmalion’s understanding that he revived Galatea with his kiss. The first look at the picture immediately goes to a completely naked woman statue as the lightest and most contrasting figure, which is the center of the canvas. Galatea stands with his back to the viewer on a special turning platform, behind which the sculptor worked. On the base of the statue at her feet is a stone-carved fish, which is a hint of Jerome that Galatea appears in Greek mythology as a sea nymph. The transformation of hard stone into living flesh begins just above Galatea's knees, thus gently dividing her body into a living warm pink upper and cold white lower parts. Pygmalion, standing at the tip of his toes on a wooden box, reaches for Galatea, kissing passionately and hugging her tightly. Galatea, bending over, responds with a hug to Pygmalion's energetic impulse, a sign of which is a fluttering working blue toga and a hammer lying on the floor, dropped after he realized that the wish had come true. In the upper right corner, the god of love Amur hovers in the air, pointing an arrow at a happy couple.
To the left of Galatea is a step ladder, correlated with the position of the legs of Pygmalion and Galatea, as if they would continue to move at some point in their arms. Directly opposite Pygmalion, on the left of Galatea, there is another wooden box, introducing a certain amount of symmetry to the bottom of the picture in the presence of a strong diagonal axis created by the location of the stairs. On the right side of the picture, a warrior’s shield is leaning against the wall, symbolizing a certain sacrifice of what is happening and a victory over death. On the shelf are two theatrical masks with hypertrophied facial features - male and female, representing a traditional couple of comedy and tragedy, hinting at a certain theatricality of the plot and the simplicity of emotions. On the left side of the picture, the regiment continues, and on it are three figurines related to the plot of this myth: a bust of Diana, personifying the chaste modesty that Pygmalion was looking for among the dissolved Cypriot women; a mother hugging her child is a symbol of motherhood and a reference to Galatea with her son Paphos, born of Pygmalion; a woman sitting in an armchair and holding a mirror in her hand represents the despised Pygmalion conceited Cypriots who care only about their beauty. Above the statuettes hangs a picture depicting pastoral life in ancient Greece.
