DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1397#0047
PLATE 8.
NYMPH AND CUPID,
EY J. E. MULLER.
TTER MAJESTY the Queen was good enough to allow this very beautiful life-size marble group,
from Osborne House, to be exhibited. It was a commission by the late Prince Consort to
Mr. Muller, who says it should properly be entitled "Innocence in Danger." The leading idea which
the artist wished to convey, as far as possible, may be given in his own words, as follows :—
" A girl, kneeling before a little boy, caresses him and kisses him ardently. In her innocence
she adores in him only the attractive loveliness of early childhood, and, with open eyes, is insensible
to the danger which impends. He, the heart-wakening rogue, treacherously smiling upon her, allows
himself to be caressed, while, with the left hand, he loosens the band of pearls which binds her hair,
to complete her confidence in him, and conceals, with the right, the dangerous weapon which is to
rob her of her peace and rest."
Mr. Muller, whose works are not yet well known to the English public, was born in 1828,
at Hildburghausen, formerly the capital of the duchy of Saxe-Hildburghausen, near Coburg,
where his father was in the service of the Grand-Duke. His natural talent made itself
evident at an early age, and was greatly encouraged by the late Prince Consort, who gave him
several commissions. He began his artistic career at Antwerp in 1850, where he worked in the
Academy for six months, and then continued his studies at Brussels, without the aid of a master. In
1854 he modelled a " Child Waking," and executed it in marble. It is now in the Museum at
Grotha, having been purchased by the Art Union of that place. In the same year he completed,
amongst other subjects, two female busts in marble,—"Devotion" and "Joy," now at Osborne
House. In 1857, Mr. Midler left Brussels for the more congenial atmosphere of Rome, where he
was commissioned to execute a statuette in marble, of Prince Herman Natzfeld, and a colossal
bust of the Duke of Schles-Holstein Augustenberg, with three bas-reliefs which surround the
pedestal. In 1858 he executed, for the Prince Consort, a life-size figure, in marble, of Psyche,
who, at the moment of killing her lover, discovers that it is Cupid. This work is now at Osborne
House. To the International Exhibition he contributed three works :—1. "Innocence in Danger,"
described in the official Catalogue as " Nymph and Cupid." This is the companion of another group,
modelled only, at present in his studio at Rome, the subject of which is "Innocence Triumphant."
2. A marble bust of a Roman girl, purchased by Lord Overstone. And, 3. a marble bust of a
young laughing Faun, the property of Mr. Carl Haag, the painter.
Mr. Midler has a long and, we trust, happy career before him. His works evince a great
perception of natural beauty, and very carefully - studied execution; but we are hardly in a
position to speak of his abilities in the higher class of plastic art. It is curious, however,
that, in this particular instance, the subject is grouped in direct contradiction to some of the
dicta of Sir Joshua Reynolds; concerning whose remarks on sculpture we shall have occasion
at other times to comment,—" a child is not a proper balance to a full-grown, figure, nor is a
figure sitting or stooping a companion to an upright figure." "We think the present group a
sufficient comment on such an assertion; and are glad to say that the very strict and severe rules
which Reynolds laid down for the guidance of sculptors, although they have done harm in their
time, are now nearly, if not completely, set aside. It is now admitted that the mere reproduction
of a beautiful object is, in itself, a meritorious result, which should disarm that kind of captious
criticism which is only too prevalent amongst us. "Besides imagination and reason," says Victor
Cousin, in his admirable Essays on " The True, the Beautiful, and the Good" (translated by J. W.
Wright), "the man of taste ought to possess an enlightened but ardent love of beauty; he must
'take pleasure in meeting it—must search for it—must summon it. To comprehend and demonstrate
that a thing is not beautiful, is an ordinary pleasure, an ungrateful task; but to discern a
beautiful thing, to be penetrated with its beauty, to make it evident, and make others participate
in our sentiment, is an exquisite joy, a generous task."
NYMPH AND CUPID,
EY J. E. MULLER.
TTER MAJESTY the Queen was good enough to allow this very beautiful life-size marble group,
from Osborne House, to be exhibited. It was a commission by the late Prince Consort to
Mr. Muller, who says it should properly be entitled "Innocence in Danger." The leading idea which
the artist wished to convey, as far as possible, may be given in his own words, as follows :—
" A girl, kneeling before a little boy, caresses him and kisses him ardently. In her innocence
she adores in him only the attractive loveliness of early childhood, and, with open eyes, is insensible
to the danger which impends. He, the heart-wakening rogue, treacherously smiling upon her, allows
himself to be caressed, while, with the left hand, he loosens the band of pearls which binds her hair,
to complete her confidence in him, and conceals, with the right, the dangerous weapon which is to
rob her of her peace and rest."
Mr. Muller, whose works are not yet well known to the English public, was born in 1828,
at Hildburghausen, formerly the capital of the duchy of Saxe-Hildburghausen, near Coburg,
where his father was in the service of the Grand-Duke. His natural talent made itself
evident at an early age, and was greatly encouraged by the late Prince Consort, who gave him
several commissions. He began his artistic career at Antwerp in 1850, where he worked in the
Academy for six months, and then continued his studies at Brussels, without the aid of a master. In
1854 he modelled a " Child Waking," and executed it in marble. It is now in the Museum at
Grotha, having been purchased by the Art Union of that place. In the same year he completed,
amongst other subjects, two female busts in marble,—"Devotion" and "Joy," now at Osborne
House. In 1857, Mr. Midler left Brussels for the more congenial atmosphere of Rome, where he
was commissioned to execute a statuette in marble, of Prince Herman Natzfeld, and a colossal
bust of the Duke of Schles-Holstein Augustenberg, with three bas-reliefs which surround the
pedestal. In 1858 he executed, for the Prince Consort, a life-size figure, in marble, of Psyche,
who, at the moment of killing her lover, discovers that it is Cupid. This work is now at Osborne
House. To the International Exhibition he contributed three works :—1. "Innocence in Danger,"
described in the official Catalogue as " Nymph and Cupid." This is the companion of another group,
modelled only, at present in his studio at Rome, the subject of which is "Innocence Triumphant."
2. A marble bust of a Roman girl, purchased by Lord Overstone. And, 3. a marble bust of a
young laughing Faun, the property of Mr. Carl Haag, the painter.
Mr. Midler has a long and, we trust, happy career before him. His works evince a great
perception of natural beauty, and very carefully - studied execution; but we are hardly in a
position to speak of his abilities in the higher class of plastic art. It is curious, however,
that, in this particular instance, the subject is grouped in direct contradiction to some of the
dicta of Sir Joshua Reynolds; concerning whose remarks on sculpture we shall have occasion
at other times to comment,—" a child is not a proper balance to a full-grown, figure, nor is a
figure sitting or stooping a companion to an upright figure." "We think the present group a
sufficient comment on such an assertion; and are glad to say that the very strict and severe rules
which Reynolds laid down for the guidance of sculptors, although they have done harm in their
time, are now nearly, if not completely, set aside. It is now admitted that the mere reproduction
of a beautiful object is, in itself, a meritorious result, which should disarm that kind of captious
criticism which is only too prevalent amongst us. "Besides imagination and reason," says Victor
Cousin, in his admirable Essays on " The True, the Beautiful, and the Good" (translated by J. W.
Wright), "the man of taste ought to possess an enlightened but ardent love of beauty; he must
'take pleasure in meeting it—must search for it—must summon it. To comprehend and demonstrate
that a thing is not beautiful, is an ordinary pleasure, an ungrateful task; but to discern a
beautiful thing, to be penetrated with its beauty, to make it evident, and make others participate
in our sentiment, is an exquisite joy, a generous task."