Narcissus - V&A Museum, Cromwell Gardens, London, UK
N 51° 29.771 W 000° 10.310
30U E 696309 N 5708797
This marble statue of Narcissus, possibly by Valerio Cioli, was created c1560 and is on display in the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum in London.
Waymark Code: WMW23B
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 06/29/2017
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The V&A website tells us about the sculpture:
Narcissus is shown as a youth returning from a hunt. He stops to look into a pool of water and is mesmerised by his reflection, which he has never seen before. He falls in love with the beautiful image he sees and then cannot stop looking. This may have originally been the centrepiece for a fountain, and therefore shown the figure gazing into an actual pool of water.
When discovered in Florence this statue was identified as a statue of Cupid carved by Michelangelo which was thought to be lost. For many years after its acquisition by the V&A it was one of the most celebrated works in the Museum because of this attribution. It has since been identified as an ancient Roman copy of a classical model. It was extensively recut in the sixteenth century, with the head being added at this time, and is thought to be the work of the Florentine sculptor Valerio Cioli (ca. 1529 - 1599), who was a restorer of classical sculptures. The raised left arm dates from the nineteenth century.
The figure is shown half crouching on the draped stump of a tree, with the right knee on the ground and the left knee raised. The right hand, holding an indeterminate object, rests on the rocky base and the left arm is raised. Next to the tree stump is an empty quiver pierced to hold arrows. The body is twisted upwards to the left and the head looks down over the right shoulder.
The raised left arm is a nineteenth-century restoration by Cavaliere Santarelli. An addition made at the same time by Saritarelli to the lower part of the rocky base has now been removed. The knuckles of the right band are repaired in plaster. There is a wedge-shaped area of plaster on the upper part of the left shoulder, and a corresponding area of plaster on the head.
The Greek Mythology website has an article about Narcissus that tells us:
Narcissus was a hunter in Greek mythology, son of the river god Cephissus and the nymph Liriope. He was a very beautiful young man, and many fell in love with him. However, he only showed them disdain and contempt. One day, while he was hunting in the woods, the Oread nymph Echo spotted him and immediately fell for him. When Narcissus sensed that someone was following him, Echo eventually revealed herself and tried to hug him. However, he pushed her off and told her not to disturb him. Echo, in despair, roamed around the woods for the rest of her life, and wilted away until all it remained of her was an echo sound.
Nemesis, the goddess of retribution and revenge, learned what had happened and decided to punish Narcissus for his behaviour. She led him to a pool; there, the man saw his reflection in the water and fell in love with it. Although he did not realise in the beginning that it was just a reflection, when he understood it, he fell in despair that his love could not materialise and committed suicide.