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Saturday, July 19, 2014

Pompeii No.21: The Muse of Sculpture

The Muse of Sculpture was the Bürkner engraving that I thought most resembled a Michelangelo study.

academicnudes19thcentury.blogspot.com
Bürkner understood that Michelangelo's female bodies were probably all based on the male form (one wonders whether Michelangelo ever did use a female model). Bürkner also had a good sense of Michelangelo's rather heroic poses and the way he draped clothing.

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In fact I've made very few changes to Bürkner's engraved design. My only real critique of Bürkner's engraving is that the muse's sculpture is a weak design, and it's definitely reflective of the Victorian era. I also have an aversion to mythical entities with insect wings.

Only the tiniest of sprites —
like Tinker Bell — should merit them!

And so I've added a more classic sculpture. This type of sculpture, below, is known as a "term" (thanks, Stefan), and it very often incorporates the head of a god, but more usually the head of a satyr. Were the term used as a furniture leg, it would be known as a "terminal."


Because the children depicted with the Muse of Painting were not winged, I decided to drop the wings on this little attendant as well.

I looked at several renditions of blond hair by Michelangelo and noticed that he would sometimes add a tint of red or orange to the yellow. Perhaps the Muse of Sculpture is a strawberry blond.

The finished Muse of Sculpture is below.

click to enlarge
click to enlarge
Next week, we'll look at
the Muse of Architecture.
I hope you'll join me then!

In my last posting, several of my blogging friends suggested that something extra was needed around or above the muse. I want to assure my readers that I am still unveiling the Pompeii Room in its early stages, so please don't think for a moment that this is near completion!

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15 comments:

  1. columnistJuly 19, 2014 at 7:41 AM

    Your muse rendering has Tamara de Lempicka qualities - very sleek. I like!

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    1. Mark D. RuffnerJuly 19, 2014 at 12:32 PM

      Thank you, Columnist! Tamara de Lempicka has always been one of my favorite artists. I have often played the game of choosing which artist in history I'd want to sit for, and she is always on the list.

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  2. AnonymousJuly 19, 2014 at 10:54 AM

    Using the term "herm" rather than "term" is better.

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    1. Mark D. RuffnerJuly 19, 2014 at 12:36 PM

      Dear anonymous commentor,

      Actually, in this particular case, "term" is the better label. A "herm" by definition includes male genitalia at the appropriate height on the post, which this rendering does not.

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  3. ParnassusJuly 19, 2014 at 11:12 AM

    Hello Mark, I like all of the changes you made to the muse of sculpture. I agree with you about insect wings on human forms, and am not crazy about bird wings used similarly.

    The greatest inspiration was the substitution of the Muse's sculpture. By making it and the base the same color, they are apparently of the same stone, linking various elements of the composition together in a complex way. Your version moreover is very evocative of the ancient world.
    --Jim

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    1. Mark D. RuffnerJuly 19, 2014 at 12:53 PM

      Hello, Jim,

      I appreciate your observation about color use because I had started by painting the term a slightly different hue than the base, and quickly realized that it was too foreign to the overall color scheme. As the composition becomes more and more complex, paring back the colors will be all the more important.

      I spent some time considering how to replace the muse's sculpture, settling on the classic quality of the the term, which has always intrigued me. As it turned out, the curve of the muse's arm and the curve of the term's shoulder make a nice interplay. Serendipity!

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  4. YvetteJuly 20, 2014 at 9:18 PM

    So amazing, Mark. I know, I know, you're getting tired of superlatives raining down upon your head. Ha. Well, I can only speak the truth. I love the references you're using and I will try and not be so impatient about the process. By the way, I found an trompe l'oeil artist for you to wonder over when you have a moment away from your Pompeian room. His name is John Frederick Peto. I just finished adding some of his work to one of my art boards. I think you'll like Peto's work. Google him when you have a mo.

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    1. Mark D. RuffnerJuly 20, 2014 at 10:50 PM

      Dear Yvette,

      Thank you for your superlatives; you are very kind and I appreciate it more than you know.

      I have been familiar with the work of John Frederick Peto for some time because I have a small collection of books on trompe l'oeil, and his name is usually mentioned in that connection. Our local fine arts museum has a delightful painting by Peto — it's a big barrel overflowing with money, and every single bill is an amazing little masterpiece in its own right. And I do wonder over him!

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    2. YvetteJuly 25, 2014 at 3:52 PM

      I should have known you'd know Peto's work. :) But I have another for you: Claudio Bravo, a Chilean artist whose paintings of cloth and paper are to die for. But you probably know his work already...?

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    3. YvetteJuly 25, 2014 at 3:52 PM

      P.S. Peto was probably burdened by fixation to minute detail. Been there. Done that. :)

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    4. Mark D. RuffnerJuly 25, 2014 at 9:07 PM

      Hi, again,

      Your suggestion of Claudio Bravo sent me on a google chase, and I agree that his paintings of paper and cloth are to die for. I thought it strange that I was completely unfamiliar with Bravo's work until I saw his portrait of Malcolm Forbes, which I knew from numerous readings on Forbes.

      Thanks for that reawakening!

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  5. GinaJuly 21, 2014 at 9:25 AM

    Dear Mark,
    Whew! For a few seconds I thought that Tinkerbell was going to show up in your Pompeian masterpiece. Of course that would not be so, however, to see the image was unexpected.
    Following your progress is like going on a treasure hunt. Every week a new and beautifully painted surprise.

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    1. Mark D. RuffnerJuly 21, 2014 at 1:16 PM

      Dear Gina,

      You have nothing to worry about; no Disney character will appear in the mural. But I did chuckle to myself that the Tinker Bell image gave you an initiial start. So far most of my inspiration has come from Renaissance imagery, and Bürkner's sculpture didn't fit in with the Renaissance or Pompeian styles. It struck me as more of an afterthought.

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  6. AnonymousJuly 27, 2014 at 10:38 AM

    Hi Mark, she is absolutely beautiful and I can't wait to see what you have in mind for the space above her!

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    1. Mark D. RuffnerJuly 27, 2014 at 11:43 AM

      Hi, Barbara,

      I'll be introducing a new theme between the garlands and the muses, but that will be coming a little later . . .

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