Today’s humble offering of the Friday Afternoon Challenge:“Ready for My Close-up!” Pt. I Sculptur

[CTyankee]

Can you identify the artist and the work?

and, gentle ones, we do not cheat, do we?

1.
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2.
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3.
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4.
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5.
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6.
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[AllenVanAllen]

1. Although I recognize several of these sculptures I can guess only one.

Number 4 appears to be Perseus by Benvenuto Cellini. I'm not steeped in classical sculpture, even though I'm a sculptor myself. It's always been a favorite of mine, if it indeed is the correct sculpture.

Thank you, CTyankee!

[CTyankee]

2. doncha love it? Perseus is SO ripped!

I'm NO fan of the Mannerists but this one is pretty great...

[malaise]

3. I love your Fridays threads

but you already know that

[CTyankee]

4. Love you back, Malaise! We have a great time in your threads on Morning Joe!

[malaise]

7. LOL

[AllenVanAllen]

8. I do love the anatomy and the head detail.

It's an amazing piece. I'm not a formally trained sculptor but I consider myself an eternal student of the human form.

[CTyankee]

11. Tell me about your sculpture. What medium do you mainly work in?

[AllenVanAllen]

37. I work in the toy and collectible statue industry.

They are usually highly detailed limited edition pieces made for the adult collector market and are based on comic book, animation, film and literary subjects. The mediums I use are either polymer clay or various sculpting waxes. It's a pretty fun line of work most of the time.

[blaze]

24. Very ripped!! <g> but....

what is a Mannerist?

Educate me dear CTyankee.

[CTyankee]

27. Mannersim followed the High Renaissance. It is marked by some odd

things in art: elongated bodies, things flying in space with no linear perspective, a kind of bleached out canvas. Bronzino was an exception altho he had some variations with High Renaissance that I was OK with. Sculpture came into play with the figura serpentinata of the Mannerists. Which I kinda like, actually. I thought it was interesting but see Giambologna's "Rape of the Sabine Women" which will give you an idea of what I am talking about.

Mannerism didn't last too long and was succeeded by the Baroque era (thankfully).
Seems it was a kind of reaction against the intellectualism of the Renaissance, some of which I just can't stomach.

I do like Veronese and some (not all) Tintoretto and they are variously typed "Mannerist." I think Pontermo is my biggest enemy here. Mary McCarthy in her venerable book "The Stones of Florence" referred to him and the Mannerists as having "candy book colors."

[blaze]

30. Woah!

When I request an education, you do NOT disappoint!!!

Off to research your wonderfully detailed reply!!!

I LOVE your weekly challenge!!!!!!

[CTyankee]

35. sorry if I overwhelm. I don't mean to.

I really don't like Mannerism. Pontormo typifies what I hate. But Veronese and Bronzino are Ok. I think you'll like them a lot. Don't let my prejudices get in your way...

[blaze]

36. No no no!!!!!!

You didn't overwhelm at all!!!!

I was delighted with the detail of your response and will google all the info you provided!!!!!

Don't ever stop!!!!!

You are educating a boatload of people who welcome it!! (Ya know.... all those people who say they know nothing, but love these threads?)

[AllenVanAllen]

10. Forgive me, the proper name of the sculpture is 'Perseus with the Head of Medusa.'

I got over excited to take part in this challenge.

[monmouth]

5. Would the first piece be Nero? Has that crazed eye thing going on..Love, love Fridays and Art.n/t

[CTyankee]

6. No, not Nero. I think the artist was trying for "determined." At least, that is what

I surmise by researching this particular sculpture...

[horseshoecrab]

9. #2 (edit!)

I think #2 is one of Giambologna's versions of Mercury. Love Mercury and his Cadeuceus, his winged hat, his winged feet.

The big clue for me was the angle and placement of the foot atop a column of wind.

Hi CTyankee.

[CTyankee]

12. funny thing, I don't see the wing on his foot. It looks like he is stepping on the wind...

Am I wrong? I thought Mercury had wings on his heels...

[horseshoecrab]

15. the wings of merc ...

I think the wing may be on the other side of the ankle than this view. The wings are sort of towards the outer ankle sticking out to the side. This is a view of the inside ankle - as best I can tell.

BTW, I've read that Giambologna did 4 versions of Mercury, and one is entirely wingless. Maybe this is it? Giambologna also did a version with Cupid tying Merc's foot wings on, which I've only read about.

Yep, he absolutely is on a column of wind that's blown by the zephyr below, but um... he uses the foot wings for extra oomph.

(Sorry if I screwed things up by mentioning Merc's foot wings, which aren't even visible here! He is one of my fave mythological characters.)

[CTyankee]

20. wow, I'm going to have to go back and look at this thing again. I missed several points

you made. You didn't screwthings up because I automatically assume that Mercury is portrayed with wings...

[horseshoecrab]

40. Always pictured Merc with his foot (and helmet) wings too!

A search on Giambologna mercury turned up the bit about 4 different versions. I can't find an image of them, other than the iconic one.

Oh well... would love to see the wingless one or the one with Cupid tying on merc's foot wings!

Great challenge CTYankee!

[blaze]

23. Oh! It's a column of wind!

I love these threads!!!

[OriginalGeek]

13. ALl I know about sculpture is

if ain't baroque, don't fix it.



And I once again eagerly await some education.

[CTyankee]

14. BAROQUE! Hint, hint, hint: #6 is Baroque!

[horseshoecrab]

39. #6

#6 is by Bernini -- Martyrdom of Saint Lawrence.

[CTyankee]

41. I am just astonished that more folks didn't get this right away...we have a real

fan club for Bernini here but maybe they weren't around for this Challenge!

It's a marvelous close-up!

[CTyankee]

42. do you have a guess on #3?

[horseshoecrab]

43. #3 is driving me nuts!

So ... #3 looks like one of the Kings Louis of France -- the XIII or XIV. But... the hair is a very loose curl not the usual tightly curled hair. The lace cravat is very cavalier Louis the king style.

Maybe someone will get a clue from that little bit?

Question -- is this a movie prop?
Is this in Hertford House (the room with the pink watered silk walls) in the UK?

[CTyankee]

44. No. It is real art. I gave another hint...the artist is contemporary...alive and well...

and known for irony...

Actually, some of his works are coming the Metropolitan Museum and this will be one of them...just saw the article about it in the NYT....

The background looks like the Louvre to me and I do know that some of his works were on display there

[CTyankee]

45. #3 is by Jeff Koons and is titled "Louis XIV" just so you know...

[horseshoecrab]

46. Oh!

Thank you -- Of Course!

[CTyankee]

47. Look up the NYT from either Thursday or Friday this past week. In the

Arts section there is an article about this work as well as his Michael Jackson and Bubbles coming to the Metropolitan Museum in New York. I see another day trip into Manhattan in my near future...

[horseshoecrab]

50. Found it, thanks...

Excellent, and have fun on your day trip!

[CTyankee]

55. OH, BTW, if you are anywhere near NYC, "Girl with Pearl Earring" is slated to

come to the Frick in spring of 2013...

Of course, there will be lines out the door when it opens but it may get better as a little time goes on. Don't know how long it will be in the U.S. and it may go elsewhere across the U.S.

I saw "Girl with Pearl Earring" at its home, the Mauritshuis in the Hague last October. That museum is now temporarily closed for renovation so I guess it is a good time for the painting to go on tour. It is quite small actually, but of course lovely. You might want to check your local arts listing in case it is coming to your neck of the woods...could be!

[rusty fender]

16. Prince of Peace and the Huntress

#6: Jesus--Michaelangelo

#5: Diana the Huntress--St. Gaudens

[CTyankee]

18. # 5 is correct! How did you know this? Are you a fan of St. Gaudens?

It's a beautiful work, IMO...

As for #6, no...

[rusty fender]

48. I think that I entered Huntress in Google

and this image was included in the search results. I did see a PBS documentary about St. Gaudens some years ago.

I am amazed at how similar Michaelangelo's Jesus in his Pieta is to Bernini's sculpture.

[CTyankee]

49. Didyou see the recent book titled "The Greater Journey"? It's about Americans in the 19th

century going to Paris. The book's last chapter is on St. Gaudens. The author is historian David McCullough. It is a wonderful, exciting book.

[rusty fender]

52. Haven't seen it, but

it sounds great.

[CTyankee]

53. You will love it, what a read! I got it at my library...

[Puzzler]

17. The first one maybe Rodin?

Bergers of Calais (spelling?), in London?

[CTyankee]

19. I can see why you said this. It is an outdoor sculpture...

but several centuries separate these works...not the burghers of Calais...

[CTyankee]

21. Hey, guys! Ya got three out of six...

c'mon, you can do it! Get those last 3!

[yardwork]

22. #1 looks like a Roman emperor, but I don't know which one or the sculptor.

[CTyankee]

25. It is a not a Roman emperor. It is an early Renaissance artist's rendering of a hero.

[yardwork]

26. I'm really stumped....

[CTyankee]

28. well, think of the really famous sculptors of early Renaissance Florence...

and you'll soon be on your way...

[pinboy3niner]

29. Donatello: Erasmo of Narni

[CTyankee]

32. Hey, there you go Pinboy! What gave it away for you?

[pinboy3niner]

34. Early Renaissance helped

And he looked like a Roman soldier of some kind. The condotetieri were mercenary warlords.

Erasmo of Narni

Erasmo of Narni (1370 – January 16, 1443), better known as "Gattamelata" (The nickname means "The Honeyed Cat&quot , was among the most famous of the condottieri or mercenaries in the Italian Renaissance. He was born in Narni, and served a number of Italian city-states: he began with Braccio da Montone, served Pope and Florence equally, and served Venice in 1434 in the battles with the Visconti of Milan.

He was the subject of Donatello's equestrian bronze sculpture in the main square of Padua, the same city over which he became dictator in 1437.

In Narni, the farmhouse in which Gattamelata was born bears a plaque reading "Narnia me genuit Gattamelata fui — (I was born in Narni, I was Gattamelata)."[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erasmo_of_Narni

[annabanana]

31. #1 is Gattamelatta

(I forget whose work it is..)

[CTyankee]

33. Wow! GMTA with pinboy! You both got it simulataneouly! What a great job.

It is by Donatello and is in Padua...

[CTyankee]

38. Here is another HINT: You will be very surprised to know the artist of #3 is still alive!

Last edited Sat Sep 15, 2012, 08:31 AM - Edit history (1)

Yes, I know it looks old...I was surprised when I saw who did it too...

[rusty fender]

51. #2--Fortuna by Giovanni

Bologna? His famous "Mercury" is omnipresent, but he did a similar one of Fortuna that is less well-known.

[CTyankee]

54. It is Mercury by Giambologna, a Mannerist sculptor in Florence...

this is a detail from the base of it.

The Mannerists went a little over the top but I like his stuff. Very dramatic.

[rusty fender]

56. It is the same guy.

I think.

[elleng]

57. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, YANK!

[CTyankee]

58. Many thanks!, ellen! And best of luck to Powell!