Francesco Fanelli created “Nessus and Dejanira” in the mid 17th century. The statue is about 8 to 10 inches tall, the medium is bronze and the sculpture’s origin is France. I finally was able to find this piece in the Italian Baroque Sculpture 1600-1750 section next to a piece by Giovanni Battista Fossini named “The Suicide of Ajax”. I noticed “Loving Couple” (Mithuna) in the Horence and Herbert Irving Galleries beside an 11th - 12th century Indian sculpture named “Preening Celestial Beauty”. “Loving Couple” is from the 13th century; the creator is unknown. This sculpture was constructed with Fer

“Nessus and Dejanira” is a free standing sculpture, unlike “Loving Couple”. Within this sculpture are a woman and half horse/man. Where the horse’s body ends (at the chest) a man begins, revealing his torso unto his head. He seems as though he could be a demon because his ears are long and pointy like and elf. He has a long beard that rests on his chest and shoulders and has a very angry look across his face. The man is holding the woman with is arms wrapped around her waist near her buttocks and upper thigh. The man is arched back slightly on an angle looking up towards the woman’s face. The man is holding her so her head is above his, and her shoulders are at his face. The woman is arching backwards (almost in a half limber), but her body is twisting towards his. It looks as if she is in pain or extremely scared and is trying to get away. There is a cloth hanging from in between the arm of the man and woman’s buttocks. It looks as though her clothes were torn off of her because she is nude. The horse’s body is somewhat in a spooked position with its two back legs grounded and two front legs up in the air. Its body is very strong, giving off the impression that it is a fast horse. There is some muscle definition in the rear hind muscles.

The final painting I observed on my day at the Met was “Large Interior, Los Angeles” by David Hockney (1988). This piece’s medium was oil, ink on cut-and-pasted paper, and the origin of this painting is Britain. This painting is strange but fun to look at. It is a picture of the inside of an apartment, only nothing seems to make sense. The floor goes in all different directions as does the ceiling. The ceiling and floor almost give the allusion that it is one in the same. This painting is very abstract and makes use of stacking; nothing overlaps. The chairs in the room kind of move upward, everything in the room is visible. There is no object covered or hidden. The Hues are very bright (neons). The texture is rough and somehow the painting is two-dimensional as well as three-dimensional.

In both sculptures, the people are well in proportion. Although the women are smaller than the men, the bodies are in proportion with one another. The biggest difference is the difference of emotion between the pieces. The Baroque sculpture is extremely dramatic, with the woman crying out and the man/horse trying to hold and keep her. Their hair flows in the wind and basically nothing in the sculpture is simple or boring. I think the dramatics carry itself throughout the period, resembling late classical Greek sculptures. “Loving Couple” is much more simple and plain. Because of their tiny smiles, it makes the sculpture fun without the drama.

“Loving Couple” is a sculpture of a male and female about to make out. The statue is not free standing because it is attached to the wall. On the wall, above the lovers heads is a 3-dimensional wheat branch. Underneath are the lovers. The man is standing forw

Some topics in this essay:
Ganga Dynasty, David Hockney, Sculpture Gallery, Demon Where, Hans Hoffman, Rudolf Balogh, Field Cypresses”, Sculpture Baroque, Francesco Fanelli, I’ll Simply, “loving couple”, “nessus dejanira”, baroque sculpture, woman’s leg, “loving couple” sculpture, horse’s body, upper thigh, finally able, baroque period, couple” sculpture, oil canvas,