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Perseus arming
(1882)
Medium
bronze
Measurements
72.4 × 34.1 × 22.2 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1905
Gallery location
19th Century European Paintings Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
First exhibited at the Grosvenor Gallery, London, a centre for Aestheticism, Alfred Gilbert’s Classical subject is imbued with the ambiguous delicacy of a nymphor dryad. Perseus arming was inspiredby a visit to Florence, where Gilbert had encountered Donatello’s David, already celebrated within the period’s burgeoning queer culture. Gilbert became the foremost sculptor of the Aesthetic movement – a literary and art movement that favoured style and beauty over content and meaning. Gilbert was known for the subtle daring of his compositions and later for his extravagant lifestyle, which led to a period of near destitution and exile. Much of the tension, and the fascination, in the Aesthetic persona lay in the fragile boundary between fantastic vision and real-world consequence.
Artwork Details
Accession Number
239-2
Department
International Sculpture
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited