Stories behind the Complex Compositions: Sculpture Comparison

1057 Words3 Pages

This paper will discuss and compare A Faun Teased by Children sculpture, of the Italian Baroque style, and the Little Fourteen Year Old Dancer of the French impressionist style. These two sculptures give us a clear insight and allows us to peer in on the moment that is taking place. The active movement, strong diagonals and dramatic facial expressions of the figures in A Faun Teased by Children tells the on looker a vivid detailed story of the actions that are taking place and what role each figure is taking on, in a mythical scene, while the stagnant and serene pose of the Fourteen Year Old Girl resonates calmness and a moment that has not taken place just yet.
A Faun Teased by Children is a sculpture chiseled out of marble, recrystallized carbonate minerals, in 1616-17 in Rome by Bernini and is also 52 1/8in tall. The negative space forms the letter B. Bernini has signed his sculpture in negative space. This sculpture presents strong perspective effects, a dense and detailed composition, and upward movement of the figures, all strong indications of the Italian Baroque style. The cultural context of this piece is based on ancient sarcophagi.
The living subjects in A Faun Teased by Children include a faun, three small children, a lion, a lizard, and a tree sprouting grapes and other fruits and vegetation. The nonliving subjects include the skin of a lion. The scene appears to be the location of a forest or place where fruitful vegetation is apparent. The sculpture is asymmetrical with active vertical and diagonal accents depicting a scene in en medias res. All of the figures are depicted in the nude. Both of the children are shown precariously perched on branches at the top of the tree in a half embrace. One is tugging on...

... middle of paper ...

...best view of the negative space that her arms and legs create. The best vantage points for viewing A Faun Teased by Children are the front left corner where you get a clear view the faun’s stretch and every figure in the piece and the back of the sculpture. Also both of these sculptures are medium in scale.
Bernini and Degas used very different materials and mediums to produce very different and compelling compositions that tell interesting stories through elements that were executed carefully. These carful hands displayed the importance of each figure in relation to the other figures and the style chosen.

Works Cited

Citation
"Gian Lorenzo Bernini: Bacchanal: A Faun Teased by Children" (1976.92) In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1976.92. (October 2006)

Open Document