From Clay
to Bronze
Timeless Beauty
By Linda Cordair
The Rape of
Proserpina by Gian
Lorenzo Bernini
c. 1621 - Photo
courtesy of Galleria
Borghese
A
s co-owner and director
of a fine-art gallery, I am
surrounded by the work of
immensely talented people,
painters and sculptors, who
share my sense of life and fill our
gallery with the stylized recreations
of reality that bring joy and
inspiration to so many. While a
painting of a beautiful scene or
portrait can take my breath away—
I thoroughly enjoy gazing upon the
beauty of an original painting by
William Bougereau or Maxfield
Parish—sculpture has always
fascinated me, as it beckons to be
viewed, touched, and enjoyed from
many angles. Among the sculpture
types, figurative works are my
personal favorite: properly
executed, details such as the nape
of a neck, the soft, round curves of
a torso, the definition of muscles,
the sense of movement can tell an
enticing, alluring, captivating story.
he earliest figurative sculpture
yet discovered is an ivory carving
of a lion headed figure, known as the
Lion Man of the Hohlenstein Stadel.
Recognized as the oldest known
anthropomorphic carving in the
world, the piece was found in a cave
in Hohlenstein Mountain, in the
Swabian Jura of southwest Germany
112
Ascending by Karl
Jensen