The story of Salmacis and Hermaphroditus is a chapter in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. The nymph Salmacis fell in love with Hermaphroditus, Hermes and Aphrodite’s son. Hermaphroditus rejected her but Salmacis managed to outwit him in the water. Yet again Hermaphroditus rejected her, so Salmacis prayed to the gods that she would be united with him until the end of time. They fused into a hermaphroditic creature, with male and female characteristics. François-Joseph Navez depicts the nymph and the object of her affection just before the metamorphosis. Hermaphroditus’s reticent gesture and the passionate embrace by the infatuated nymph constitute an ingenious and elegant ballet in an almost abstract play of lines. Mythological scenes were rather the exception in Navez’s work. His stay in Rome inspired him to paint religious subjects and picturesque Italian scenes during the rest of his career. His Classic portraits were also quite successful.
| Artist |
François-Joseph Navez
RKD
VIAF
Wikidata
|
|---|---|
| Title | The Nymph Salmacis and Hermaphrodite |
| Date | 1829 |
| Period | 19th century |
| Signatures, inscriptions, and markings | signature and year bottom left, under the mantle: F. J. NAVEZ 1829. |
| Collection | paintings AAT |
| Object type | oil paintings (visual works) AAT |
| Inventory number | 1829-A |
| Acquisition credit |
onbekend |
| Current whereabouts | Work on display |
| Permalink | https://mskgent.be/collection/work/data/1829-A |
| IIIF Manifest | https://imagehub.mskgent.be/iiif/3/59/manifest.json |
| Art & Architecture Thesaurus |
300417629
mythologies (religious concept)
AAT
300015636 landscapes AAT |
|---|---|
| Keywords Iconclass |
12E13
representations ~ gods, demi-gods, heroes, etc. (Greek religion)
Iconclass
12EE13 representations ~ goddesses, demi-goddesses, heroines, etc. (Greek religion) Iconclass 13D2 transformation, metamorphosis of person Iconclass 21D water (one of the four elements) Iconclass 25G plants; vegetation Iconclass 25G11 groups of trees Iconclass 25G3 trees Iconclass 25G41 flowers Iconclass 25G4111 garland, wreath Iconclass 25H2 landscapes with waters, waterscapes, seascapes (in the temperate zone) Iconclass 25H212 brook Iconclass 25H2143 pond, pool Iconclass 25H217 river bank Iconclass 31A the (nude) human figure; 'Corpo humano' (Ripa) Iconclass 31A231 standing figure Iconclass 31A277 movement in water Iconclass 31A73 hermaphrodite, androgyne Iconclass 31AA the (nude) human figure; 'Corpo humano' (Ripa) - AA - female human figure Iconclass 31AA231 standing figure - AA - female human figure Iconclass 43C421 shooting with bow and arrow, archery (~ games of skill) Iconclass 45C15(ARROW) archer's weapons: arrow Iconclass 45C15(BOW) archer's weapons: bow Iconclass 48AA9831 foliage, tendrils, branches ~ ornament - AA - stylized Iconclass 56F1 Desire; 'Desiderio' (Ripa) Iconclass 56F2 (personifications and symbolic representations of) Love; 'Amore (secondo Seneca)' (Ripa) Iconclass 83(OVID, Metamorphoses) (scenes from) specific works of literature (OVID, Metamorphoses) Iconclass 9 Classical Mythology and Ancient History Iconclass 92B591 (story of) Hermaphroditus Iconclass 92B5911 story of Hermaphroditus and Salmacis Iconclass 92L3 nymphs (in general); 'Ninfe in commune' (Ripa) Iconclass 92L312 Naiads, river- and spring-nymphs; usually carrying an urn; 'Naiadi, ninfe de' fiumi' (Ripa) Iconclass 92L32(SALMACIS) single named nymphs (SALMACIS) Iconclass |
| School / Style | Neoclassical AAT |
| Catalogue descriptif du Musée de la ville de Gand : précédé d'une notice historique / Adolphe Pierre Sunaert. - Gand : E. Vanderhaeghen, 1870 (p. 138-139, nr. 190) |
| Catalogus van het Museum van Schoone Kunsten Gent : II: Moderne Meesters / Georges Chabot, Fritz Van Loo. - Gent : Ad. Hoste, 1932 (p. 111) |
| 200 jaar verzamelen : Collectieboek Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent / Arnout Balis, Robert Hoozee, Maximiliaan P.J. Martens, Paul Van Haute. - Gent : Ludion, 2000 (p. 271 (ill. 62)) |
| François-Joseph Navez (Charleroi 1787-Bruxelles 1869) : La nostalgie de l'Italie / Denis Coekelberghs, Alain Jacobs, Pierre Loze. - Bruxelles : Association du Patrimoine Artistique, 1999 (p. 91-96, nr. 141 (ill.)) |
| Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent : Catalogus schilderkunst ; Deel I: 14de - 18de eeuw ; Deel II: 19de - 20ste eeuw / Robert Hoozee, Johan De Smet, Bruno Fornari, Ruth Monteyne. - Gent : Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent, 2007 (p. 246-247 (ill.)) |
| Liefde en Lust : De mooiste verhalen uit de klassieke literatuur en de Bijbel / Jo Claes. - Antwerpen : Houtekiet, 2019 (coverillustratie) |
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