Smiling Faun

Upon first inspection of the sculpture, it appeared to be a high-relief sculpture of a faun. This faun though, upon closer inspection was not high-relief. While I walked around to its backside I notice the fine detail that went into this faun’s entire body. Slender shoulders and a narrowing ba

The choice of material was typical for a piece like this. It allows the easy mimicking of the curves and indentations of the human figure. Scale is somewhat effected for larger pieces in the faun’s case marble is an excellent choice. Marble allows the sculptor’s design to be more intricate and life like then if it were made of a harder stone or metal. The marble can be polished to a fine, smooth surface or can be rough to give texture. The marble in this figure is used to show the youthful smoothness of the faun’s skin. The marble allows for linear carving showing the many contours of the faun’s curly hair. The contours and curls of the body create shadows giving a more realistic theme.

ck were all finely detailed. The use of subtle lines seemed to be a central aspect of the figure. Sadly the piece is fragmented so not all of the hard-work and detail could be seen. Both the arms are missing. The left arm is broken off right below the shoulder, while the right is broken at just about where the arm meets the socket. This gives rise to what the arms may have been doing. The arms may have been projecting downward. This still allows for the bending of the elbows and hands in various positions. The legs too, have been broken. Both were broken above the knee but gave little doubt that the knee, calf, and foot all stayed on the same plane. The simply suggest that they just hung down with no real stance. This beautiful marble faun is oddly named do to the fact that it does not resemble that of a normal faun with the horns and animal legs. The faun seems to be two to three feet tall and in the general proportions of a boy. The well preserved piece may have represented their society’s connection with nature. This Smiling Faun seems to have quite a story behind it.

After my original observation I proceeded into my formal analysis of the sculpture. This sculpture is free standing. I noted though that

Some topics in this essay:
Smiling Faun, Faun” Graeco-Roman, Museum Art, piece sculpture, Faun October, marble allows, central figure, throughout body, legs proportion, “smiling faun”, subtle lines, fine detail, faun’s skin, choice marble,