preview

Art Comparison Between Satyr And Nymph

Decent Essays

There is a playfulness and whimsy seen in the sculpted piece of Satyr and Nymph. The sculpted marble shows two subjects; one seated grasping onto the other that is standing and starting to pull away from him in a frozen moment captured within the piece. There is a movement and lightness found in the hard marble that was designed by the unknown artist. The artist captures what seems to be the end of an intimate moment between the Satyr and Nymph in the art piece.
Satyr and Nymph is dated between 1st and 2nd c CE and is sculpted out of white marble, it is 45 ½ inches, and the artist is unknown. Made for either the Roman or Greek culture, the Satyr is sitting on a stump and has his arm around the Nymphs torso holding onto her breast, …show more content…

The stump that the Satyr is sitting upon is a darker color than the bodies and has a rougher texture, which keeps the eyes drawn toward the subjects instead of the supporting structure. The cloth draped over the Nymphs arm has many folds, which also plays with the light. The darker colors within the marble are shown in the folds and around her arm, which helps give the sculpture movement. The Nymph is leaning away which allows for shadows to be cast upon the arm braced around her torso and the hand reaching around her breast. The Satyrs leg around the Nymphs standing back leg is also in shadow and does not seem to capture as much light. However within the shade the Satyr’s foot is locked around his other ankle holding onto the Nymph in the lower part of the statue. The lightness of the marble within the torso area draws your eyes to the forms of the subjects and how they are interacting with each other. The lighter shades in the marble are seen in the bodies and torsos of the subjects which draws the eyes to that areas as the main focus of the piece. It is the bodies and their interaction that is what the artist is conveying. Although the gripping of the hand and ankle are shaded, the torsos and upper bodies are lighter marble and allow the light to reflect off the lightness of the

Get Access