Leseprobe

150 Leda with the Swan Corneille van Clève Paris 1645–1732 Paris 1680/1690 Bronze; 63.5×23.8×24.5 cm Purchased from the estate of Count Heinrich von Brühl in 1765 Inv. no. H4 154/28 Corneille van Clève descended from a Flemish family of goldsmiths. After appren- ticing with Michel Anguier, he spent several years in Rome and Venice. In 1678 he returned to Paris and commenced a brilliant career in the service of the king and French nobility. Particularly popular were the small bronzes Van Clève made for private collectors. In some ways, he thus continued the tradition of Giam­ bologna’s Florentine workshop, modifying the popular Italian small bronzes to suit the tastes of the French Rococo. Most of his bronze groups depict erotic tales from Greek mythology, and would have harmonized perfectly in their original display contexts with paintings by his contemporary Antoine Watteau (1684– 1721) of bucolic scenes and fêtes galantes . Depictions of the Aetolian princess Leda have enjoyed great popularity since antiquity. According to the Greek myth, Zeus, king of the gods, seduced Leda in the guise of a swan, a union that produced among others Helen of Troy. Since the Renaissance, depictions have followed one of two models: Leonardo da Vinci’s standing Leda, who is nuzzled tenderly by the swan, or Michelangelo’s somewhat coarser reclining Leda. Van Cleve has depicted her standing, holding the swan’s elongated neck as if to prolong their moment of intimate eye contact.  |  ckg