Oh, a statue of a naked woman tied to a bull? Okay.
Lygia and the Bull is a sculpture by Giuseppe Moretti, based on Henryk Sienkiewicz' 1895 novel "Quo Vadis," in which the Roman Emperor Nero condemned a princess to die in the arena because of her Christian faith. Without the backstory, however, tourists viewing it on display at Sarasota's Ringling Museum of Art are no doubt puzzled and quickly consulting the brochure. And of course, finding out the statue's grim meaning is a real buzzkill.
The powerful image Lygia bound to the bull comes from a fictional story Quo Vadis by Henryk Sienkiewicz which in turn is derived from stories that Christian women were said to have been martyred by the Romans in a spectacle recreating the Greek legend of Dirce and the Bull
ReplyDeleteIt should be noted that there is Greek precedent for the tale of a woman killed by being tied to a bull - the story of Dirce: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirce
ReplyDeleteAlso: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farnese_Bull
I have this statute made from wood with man in front of bull holding bull for the horns. On this statute name Alex and 1943 year. Maybe somebody know and can tell me what do I have. Zhanna Geskin. zgeskin@yahoo.com
ReplyDeleteMoretti created a marble version of the scene that included Ursus, Lygea's bodyguard, gripping the bull's horns and twisting its head. Unfortunately, the work, minus its horns and tail, was removed from the Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh, boxed up and stuffed in a storage shed. Its present location, if it still exists, is unknown. Here's an image of what it once looked like: https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=statue&tbm=isch&tbs=simg:CAQSmQEJb8uJ_10WoLDkajQELEKjU2AQaBggUCAAIAwwLELCMpwgaYgpgCAMSKJ4S-gGfBZMDjAOdEvYBpQahBfkB0yzAJMEg_1jeGOPUtoS7YLKIu5yQaMP1es6XydlFxwDtK72590txrBEddpFkrGLuXjpSGmZlSC7hhnsnQlHO7jyPiXtE8QiAEDAsQjq7-CBoKCggIARIEji5JkQw&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiO5aHFtMXeAhWBmOAKHWZHBpIQ2A4IMSgB&biw=1600&bih=738#imgrc=1fMK1-SHsqKIAM.
ReplyDeleteWhat the hell is a buzz kill?
ReplyDelete