Leseprobe

152 Boreas abducting Oreithyia After Gaspard Marsy Paris, c. 1700 Bronze; 53×32.5×31.5 cm Purchased in Paris in 1714 Inv. no. H4 154/13 The two bronzes are small-scale reproductions after famous marble statues which decorate the park of Versailles. One group shows Boreas, the personification of the winter north wind, abducting the nymph Orithyia. Crouching at the nymph’s feet is Zephir, the clement westerly wind. Once intended as part of the cos­ mological decoration of the Parterre d’Eau (itself the vision of court painter, Charles Le Brun), the sculpture represents the element of air. Designed by Gaspard Marsy in 1677, the sculpture was realized by his assistant Anselme Flamen after his death. The element of fire is represented by a sculpture of the rape of Proserpina, which was completed in 1699 by François Girardon. Proserpina was abducted by Pluto, god of the underworld, (hence the association with fire). This left Proserpi- na’s mother, Ceres, the goddess of agriculture, so heartbroken that she turned the earth barren. To put an end to this untenable situation, an agreement was reached whereby Proserpina would spend half of each year with her mother, and the re- maining six months with Pluto, thus giving rise to the seasons. Viewed as the very acme of elegance, the sculptures adorning the French king’s park were often reproduced as small-scale bronzes. Displayed individually or combined as pendants, the bronzes were cast in two sizes: one of about 105 centimetres, and one of roughly half this height at 55 centimetres. The Dresden pair is among the earliest documented small casts of this popular model.  |  ckg