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Sculpture and Movement |
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written
by julia625 / 10.24.2005 |
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| Sculpture and movement |
1 of 1 |
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Assignment |
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The beauty of candlelight is in its effectiveness of only illuminating a small part of something at a time. Although a candle held up to the face will cast a soft glow on the whole body, to truly see each part of something the viewer must move the candle. The first thing a viewer would do when viewing the sculpture of Pauline Bonaparte, if limited by the light of only a candle, would be to hold the light up to her face. The top third of her body is innocent enough; her face and arms alone are posed very casually. As soon as the light shines below that, however, the story changes dramatically. Her innocent position turns into one of sexuality; her exposed breasts, and provocative arrangement show a much different side to her personality. Bernini uses this change to draw you around the sculpture; only once you have totally circled it can your really understand how and why Pauline wants to be displayed the way she is.
I was first drawn into this sculpture by the apple. Her pose, although it seems provocative now, was not particularly unusual at that time. Nude poses and lounging women were much more common when Bernini created this sculpture. What was unique about this sculpture is that Pauline Bonaparte is depicted holding the apple symbolizing the apple that Venus received from Paris declaring that she was the most beautiful woman in the world. The fact that Pauline Bonaparte puts her beauty on the same level as that of the most beautiful goddess adds a new depth to the story for me. The apple adds character to the sculpture. What was a beautiful woman proud of her beauty now looks to me like a self-centered, egotistical woman craving attention. I really wonder why Bernini would depict Pauline Bonaparte in such a way that would warrant such negative thoughts. He is talented enough that if the meaning he wanted to portray was beauty, he could show that through the sculpture. Instead, he chose to use the apple that while on the surface means beauty, really signifies a much darker side to its beholder.
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