I’m eating Cheerios for lunch at 10:55 AM and browsing through my Google Reader, because I simply can’t grade and eat Cheerios simultaneously. I stumbled across a fun thought, and decided to adapt and post about it myself. Viz: If you could live with any piece of famous art, which would you choose and why?
(The original specified ancient art, but I decided to broaden it up because I knew nothing about ancient art. Then I knew exactly which piece of art I wanted, and realized that it almost certainly qualifies as ancient. So… yeah. Whatevs.)
The immediate piece of art that comes to mind when I consider becoming an international art thief and displaying my loot in my Thomas Crown-style mansion* is this:
Winged Victory (Nike) of Samothrace
This marble statue, of the Greek goddess Nike, is from the 2nd century BC. It was found in fragments in the mid-1800s, and pieced together as best as possible; the head and arms were not recovered (although I think they’ve since found parts of one hand) and one wing is a reversed plaster cast of the other. I personally think the loss of her face and arms adds to her beauty and creates an ethereal, windblown sense to her.
This piece resonates with me. Those who know me well know that I’m drawn to things with wings; I rather think that this obsession originates with the Winged Victory. There’s a replica of the statue in the Idaho Statehouse that captivated me when I was younger; I’ve always felt like I could just look at it for hours. If you’ve never seen real marble statues, it’s true what they say about how they seem almost alive/breathing. There’s something shimmery and cognizant about them that defies reason, and something about Nike’s stance in this statue that makes me feel strong and exhilerated – queenlike.
I’m not sure it would do her justice to move her from her current home to mine. She probably needs vaulted ceilings. And the rest of my decor – well, I’m not sure it quite holds up to her current surroundings.
Winged Victory in the Louvre
So, which famous work of art – ancient or otherwise, 3D or otherwise - would you most love to live with, and why? Leave a comment if you post about this. I’m tagging Stixen, Journeys in Journaling, Life Surprising Me, Mrs. Chili, and definitely Spiral Bound.
* Except without the hanky-panky on the staircase. That just looked uncomfortable.
YAY! THANKS!
I did mine here:
http://theinnerdoor.wordpress.com/2010/09/23/tagged-6/
I have to tell you that your choice ALMOST inspired me to choose La Pieta, but I went with something more in keeping with my style…
Love!
Chili
I’ve seen Winged Victory in person – and no offense to you, but there’s no way your place can match hers for the hallways
As for art I’d love to live with – I already do! The walls of my room are absolutely plastered with postcards of art, and art posters, and all other manner of memorabilia
…But trying to choose a single favorite piece simply because I was tagged is nearly impossible. I would live in San Chapel, if I could – with the stained glass windows so vibrant that your eyes literally move trying to capture the difference between the red and blue on a sunny day. Or in the Sistine Chapel, with the painted walls that look so much like velvet from inches away that you surreptitiously reach out to assure your eyes that they’re lying to you. Within site of Stonehenge, so I could watch the sunrise against the vast plains surrounding it, or to take a walk around the hallowed grounds. The lesser viewed painting in the Louvre – down the hall from the Mona Lisa – which pictures a stormy night at sea where you could SWEAR the moon and wave MUST ACTUALLY have lights behind the canvas, instead of simply being a judicious application of very white paint.
I suppose, if I really HAD to choose. It’d be the Book of Kells. I’m fascinated by illuminated manuscripts, and that one, in particular, is simply amazing. I was saddened that the day we went to visit was a “normal” page day with *some* illumination, and not an entire ornate page from the beginning of a chapter. I would love to be able to sit, and carefully turn those pages – seeing each illumination as a single gorgeous entity that creates an amazing whole.
That is a LOVELY choice!
Marble is indeed a fantastic medium…