Description:
Inscribed verso: F. BARBEDIENNE. FONDEUR

Label Text:
This is a bronze figure after a renowned Hellenistic marble sculpture of the Pergamene school of the 2nd century BCE, which is known to us only from ancient Roman copies (primarily from a copy housed in the Vatican Museums). An immediate source for this particular bronze version was probably the marble "Ariane endormie" by the French sculptor Pierre Julien (1735, Le-Puy-en-Velay, Musée Crozatier). Long identified as queen Cleopatra, this reclining female figure represents Ariadne, daughter of the legendary Cretan king Minos, who helped the Greek hero Theseus escape the Labyrinth. This sculpture captures a moment when the princess was abandoned by Theseus on the island of Naxos. Captivated by the beauty of the sleeping Ariadne, the god Dionysus rescued and married her.

Subjects:
Bronze

Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=AC+1982.28

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