DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1397#0107
PLATE 28.
THESEUS AND THE CENTAUR,
BY A, L. BABYE.
A FINE bronze group, very artistically oxydized, about three feet long at the base, representing
the hero Theseus attacking the Centaur Bienor, an episode in the celebrated battle between
the Lapithas and the Centaurs, which Parrhasius painted, and which formed the subject of the
sculpture on the great frieze of the Temple of Jupiter at Olympia, the Temple of Apollo at Bassse,
and the metopes of the Parthenon at Athens, by Phidias. This group is characterized by a full and
free rendering of the antique. Theseus having rushed on the Centaur, has succeeded in mounting
on his back, and whilst with one hand he drags back Bienor's head, with the other he prepares
to deal the death-blow with a short club. The staggering of the monster, the crashing of the fir
branches, the anatomy and expression of both the figures, are finely and vigorously expressed. The
original belongs to the Musee du departement de la Loire.
Antoine Louis Barye, officer of the Legion of Honour, was born at Paris in 1796. The following
list of some of his principal works will show how prolific his genius has been. Amongst the sculptors
of animal life he takes the highest place :—by him are the two lions of the Garden of the Tuileries;
the eagles of the Pont de Jena; the lions and birds of the Column of July; the jaguar devouring a
hare, at the Palace of the Luxembourg ; and the tiger killing a gazelle, at the Ministere de PInterieur;
the figure-subjects of St. Clotilde, at the Church of the Madeleine; the four groups which decorate
the Pavilion Denon at the Louvre, representing Strength, Order, Peace, and "War; and on the
pediment of the Pavilion de l'Horloge, fronting the Tuileries, allegorical representations of the Arts
and Sciences.
Besides these public works, M. Barye is the author of about 150 models in bronze, of all classes
of subject, from classical themes to the most common ornaments of the table, all of which are charac-
terized by talent of the highest order. A modern French critic, Monsieur J. J. Arnoux, speaking
of this group of Theseus and the Centaur, thus renders homage to the genius of Barye:—" In this last
work, which crowns in so remarkable a manner all that he has done since the last twenty years,
Barye has brought to bear all the riches of his knowledge, and proves to the most incredulous that
he is acquainted with the human form as perfectly as with that of the lion or the bull. He has had to
contend against a trying souvenir,—viz., the metopes which adorn the British Museum; he has dis-
engaged himself from this adversary by choosing a new manner. His group has nothing in common
with the fragments brought to London by Lord Elgin. The Centaur of M. Barye, in movement and
in form, is entirely different to the Greek tradition, without being in opposition to it. The author has
been inspired by Nature, and has set himself to reproduce all the details which he observed. He has
understood that he could not, without exposing himself to the reproach of hardihood, endeavour to
carry out in the round the high reliefs sculptured by the hand of Phidias, and which, from their
perfection, are not to be approached by our first sculptors even. It is by the energetic movement of
the figures, expressed with thorough boldness, that M. Barye challenges your interest; the novelty of
his work, and the drawing cleverly conceived and courageously carried out, merit the approbation of
connoisseurs. The head of the Centaur, pressed down by the powerful hand of Theseus, convulsively
gasping, and threatened with the descending club, is a thoroughly new treatment of the subject, and one
which is deserving of the highest praise. A sculptor of the first order could alone conceive such a
group, and execute it with such vigour. Those who, up to the present, have refused to recognize
in M. Barye more than a sculptor of genre, must now surely renounce their opinion, and admit that
the sculptor of this group is one who is capable, when he chooses, of succeeding in the most difficult
subjects. How many of our professors indeed would be capable of producing such a work as Theseus
and the Centaur Bienor ? "
THESEUS AND THE CENTAUR,
BY A, L. BABYE.
A FINE bronze group, very artistically oxydized, about three feet long at the base, representing
the hero Theseus attacking the Centaur Bienor, an episode in the celebrated battle between
the Lapithas and the Centaurs, which Parrhasius painted, and which formed the subject of the
sculpture on the great frieze of the Temple of Jupiter at Olympia, the Temple of Apollo at Bassse,
and the metopes of the Parthenon at Athens, by Phidias. This group is characterized by a full and
free rendering of the antique. Theseus having rushed on the Centaur, has succeeded in mounting
on his back, and whilst with one hand he drags back Bienor's head, with the other he prepares
to deal the death-blow with a short club. The staggering of the monster, the crashing of the fir
branches, the anatomy and expression of both the figures, are finely and vigorously expressed. The
original belongs to the Musee du departement de la Loire.
Antoine Louis Barye, officer of the Legion of Honour, was born at Paris in 1796. The following
list of some of his principal works will show how prolific his genius has been. Amongst the sculptors
of animal life he takes the highest place :—by him are the two lions of the Garden of the Tuileries;
the eagles of the Pont de Jena; the lions and birds of the Column of July; the jaguar devouring a
hare, at the Palace of the Luxembourg ; and the tiger killing a gazelle, at the Ministere de PInterieur;
the figure-subjects of St. Clotilde, at the Church of the Madeleine; the four groups which decorate
the Pavilion Denon at the Louvre, representing Strength, Order, Peace, and "War; and on the
pediment of the Pavilion de l'Horloge, fronting the Tuileries, allegorical representations of the Arts
and Sciences.
Besides these public works, M. Barye is the author of about 150 models in bronze, of all classes
of subject, from classical themes to the most common ornaments of the table, all of which are charac-
terized by talent of the highest order. A modern French critic, Monsieur J. J. Arnoux, speaking
of this group of Theseus and the Centaur, thus renders homage to the genius of Barye:—" In this last
work, which crowns in so remarkable a manner all that he has done since the last twenty years,
Barye has brought to bear all the riches of his knowledge, and proves to the most incredulous that
he is acquainted with the human form as perfectly as with that of the lion or the bull. He has had to
contend against a trying souvenir,—viz., the metopes which adorn the British Museum; he has dis-
engaged himself from this adversary by choosing a new manner. His group has nothing in common
with the fragments brought to London by Lord Elgin. The Centaur of M. Barye, in movement and
in form, is entirely different to the Greek tradition, without being in opposition to it. The author has
been inspired by Nature, and has set himself to reproduce all the details which he observed. He has
understood that he could not, without exposing himself to the reproach of hardihood, endeavour to
carry out in the round the high reliefs sculptured by the hand of Phidias, and which, from their
perfection, are not to be approached by our first sculptors even. It is by the energetic movement of
the figures, expressed with thorough boldness, that M. Barye challenges your interest; the novelty of
his work, and the drawing cleverly conceived and courageously carried out, merit the approbation of
connoisseurs. The head of the Centaur, pressed down by the powerful hand of Theseus, convulsively
gasping, and threatened with the descending club, is a thoroughly new treatment of the subject, and one
which is deserving of the highest praise. A sculptor of the first order could alone conceive such a
group, and execute it with such vigour. Those who, up to the present, have refused to recognize
in M. Barye more than a sculptor of genre, must now surely renounce their opinion, and admit that
the sculptor of this group is one who is capable, when he chooses, of succeeding in the most difficult
subjects. How many of our professors indeed would be capable of producing such a work as Theseus
and the Centaur Bienor ? "