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Sculpture and Movement |
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written
by kayanna / 10.24.2005 |
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| Sculpture and movement |
1 of 1 |
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Assignment |
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The lighting of Pauline Bonaparte by a single candle tells a story of intended seduction ¨C late in the night when candles are the only source of light, there would sit a woman, half nude, who wanted to be represented for all of time as beautiful and memorable. The details of bodily imperfections are not sculpted here; instead, she was made soft and flattering. By the light of a candle, there would be no harsh lines or wrinkles. This tells the story of a woman who wanted to be remembered beautifully, even at the risk of shocking her friends and acquaintances at dinner parties.
I was initially drawn into the story of Bernini's Apollo and Daphne sculpture by a combination of the beautifully detailed expression of the parts I can see mingled with the blockage of the parts I could not see.
I first saw the sculpture from Daphne's side - where her fingers become branches and leaves, and from the rough surfaces that seemed to be burlap falling across her body. I was ensnared, curious, at what the meaning of fingers turning to delicate leaves would be, so I walked to the other side of the statue, to where I could see the leg of a running man kicked out behind Daphne's twisting body.
There, I could see a man - Apollo - with an arm extended, reaching for a long sought-after prize, his hand barely alighting on Daphne in a place I could now no longer see. I could see the knot of a tree forming at her heels. Walking further around to see why Daphne was twisting away, I could see the disdain and anger on her face and Apollo's hand on what was now discernible as bark, not burlap. She was changing into a tree at the horrific thought of his reaching her, and the charged emotion etched on their faces in marble was beautiful in their readability.
Bernini was a master at making emotion readable on the faces and the posture of his sculptures. In this case, Apollo strains forward, and Daphne twists away, arms flailing. He is a master of disguise ¨C disguise of parts of the story imbedded in his sculpture until the viewer changes his angle.
Both of these sculptures use light and placement in a room to tell their story ¨C Bernini¡¯s by the angle of approach and desire to see the hidden sides, and Canova¡¯s by light and limited details.
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