Centaur & Centaurus Constellation - Orlando, FL
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Metro2
N 28° 34.184 W 081° 22.006
17R E 464129 N 3160372
This centaur sculpture is located in the Mennello Museum's sculpture garden in Orlando, Florida.
Waymark Code: WMG8PG
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 01/29/2013
Views: 4
This sculpture depicts a centaur in silhouette. The work is only about 4 feet tall and is set on a concrete slab. The artist is Paul Marco (1911-1997), it is made from welded steel and dated 1984.
The sculpture is on the Smithsonian Inventory (
visit link) which simply describes it thusly:
"A welded steel and cast iron silhouette of a centaur, or satyr, holding a spear in its proper right hand. The sculpture is painted red."
As for centuars, Wikipedia (
visit link) informs us:
"In Greek mythology, a centaur...is a member of a composite race of creatures, part human and part horse. In early Attic and Boeotian vase-paintings (see below), they are depicted with the hindquarters of a horse attached to them; in later renderings centaurs are given the torso of a human joined at the waist to the horse's withers, where the horse's neck would be.
This half-human and half-animal composition has led many writers to treat them as liminal beings, caught between the two natures, embodied in contrasted myths, both as the embodiment of untamed nature, as in their battle with the Lapiths, or conversely as teachers, like Chiron."
As for the Centaurus Constellation, Wikipedia (
visit link) informs us:
"Centaurus...is a bright constellation in the southern sky. One of the largest constellations, Centaurus was included among the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations. In Greek mythology, Centaurus represents a centaur; a creature that is half man, half horse. (Another constellation named after a centaur is one from the zodiac: Sagittarius.)"