''Pygmalion and Galatea'' () is an 1890 painting by the French artist

Jean-Léon Gérôme Jean-Léon Gérôme (11 May 1824 – 10 January 1904) was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as academicism. His paintings were so widely reproduced that he was "arguably the world's most famous living artist by 1880." The ra ...

. The motif is taken from

Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...

's ''

Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' ( la, Metamorphōsēs, from grc, μεταμορφώσεις: "Transformations") is a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the ...

'' and depicts the sculptor Pygmalion kissing his statue

Galatea Galatea is an ancient Greek name meaning "she who is milk-white". Galatea, Galathea or Gallathea may refer to: In mythology * Galatea (Greek myth), three different mythological figures In the arts * ''Aci, Galatea e Polifemo'', cantata by H ...

at the moment the goddess

Aphrodite Aphrodite ( ; grc-gre, Ἀφροδίτη, Aphrodítē; , , ) is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess . Aphrodite's major symbols inclu ...

brings her to life.

Multiple versions

painted ''Pygmalion and Galatea'' in the summer of 1890. In 1891 he made a marble sculpture of the same subject, possibly based on a plaster version also used as model for the painting.Chisholm, Hugh, ed. "Gérôme, Jean Léon". ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (11th ed.). Cambridge University, 1901. He made several alternative versions of the painting, each presenting the subject from a different angle; the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

page provides a detailed history and extensive references. Different versions of the painting are seen in the backgrounds of the self-portraits ''The Artist and His Model'' (now at the

Haggin Museum The Haggin Museum is an art museum and local history museum in Stockton, San Joaquin County, California, located in the city's Victory Park. The museum opened in 1931. Its art collection includes works by European painters Jean Béraud, Rosa Bo ...

) and ''Working in Marble'' (

Dahesh Museum of Art The Dahesh Museum of Art is the only museum in the United States devoted to the collection and exhibition of European academic art of the 19th and 20th century. The collection, located in Manhattan, New York City, originated with Lebanese writer ...

), in which Gérôme depicts himself sculpting ''Tanagra'', made the same year that he painted ''Pygmalion and Galatea''.

Provenance

The most famous version, where Galatea is seen from behind, was bought by Boussod, Valadon & Cie on 22 March 1892, who sold it on 7 April, for 17,250 FFR, to Charles T. Yerkes.Catalog nr. 52
in the ''Catalogue of paintings and sculpture in the collection of Charles T. Yerkes, esq.'', New York, 1904 After his death it was sold several times until it was donated to the

by Louis C. Raegner in 1927. The other versions are in private collections or lost.

Gallery

File:Gerome pygmalion-galatee.jpg, ''Pygmalion and Galatea'', the frontal views, c. 1890 File:Gerome--Haggin--The-Artist-and-His-Model.jpg, ''The Artist and His Model'', 1894,

; Gérôme depicts himself sculpting ''Tanagra''. File:Working in Marble (Gerome).jpg, ''Working in Marble'', 1890,

; Gérôme depicts himself sculpting ''Tanagra''. File:Gérôme details.jpg, Left: Detail showing ''Pygmalion and Galatea'' in the background of ''The Artist and His Model''. Right: detail showing a different ''Pygmalion and Galatea'' in the background of ''Working in Marble''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pygmalion and Galatea (Gerome painting) 1890 paintings Paintings by Jean-Léon Gérôme Paintings depicting Greek myths Paintings depicting Roman myths Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art Works based on Pygmalion from Ovid's Metamorphoses Paintings about sculpture Paintings of Cupid Paintings based on Metamorphoses Oil on canvas paintings

Multiple versions

Provenance

Gallery

See also

References