Pygmalion and Galatea

Louis Gauffier 1761 - 1801

Summary

The painting depicts a scene from Ovid's Metamorphoses, 10.243-297. Pygmalion, King of Cyprus, has fallen in love with the ivory statue that he has made of the sea-nymph Galatea. In answer to his prayers, the statue is brought to life by Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Here, Aphrodite holds a butterfly (symbolising metamorphosis) above Galatea's head, while Cupid fires an arrow at her and a pair of doves flutter in the cloud. The story represents man's search for ideal beauty and allegorises the artist's ability to breathe spirit into inert matter. Gauffier became a pensionnaire at the French Academy in Rome from 1785-9 as co-winner, with Jean-Germaine Drouais, of the 1784 Prix de Rome. In 1793 he fled to Florence to escape reprisals against the French in Rome following the execution of Louis XVI and he remained there, painting for a cultured circle of British and Russian expatriates. As the inscription shows, he made this painting in Florence. One of these connoisseurs, Thomas Hope, owned several works by Gauffier. This is a characteristic work of the artist, who specialised in small-scale paintings with subjects drawn from Roman history and Greek mythology: the statue of Galatea draws on the Medici Venus; for Aphrodite and her drapery Gauffier looked to Michelangelo's Creation of Adam, while Pygmalion's stance is based on that of the father in Jacques-Louis David's Oath of the Horatii. The props in Pygmalion's studio, such as the burning incense, harp and garland, all contribute to the authenticity of the scene. The Neo-Classical style persisted at the Salon well into the 19th century.

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Grand Tour and Grand Style The Influence of Travel Improvements in European travel during the 1700s had a wide-ranging impact on British culture. A particularly significant influence was the Grand Tour, which became almost obligatory for young gentlemen. Grand Tourists were led across Europe by tutors to study art, history and politics for two or three years. The Grand Tour focused on Italy, particularly Rome, and often incorporated new archaeological sites such as those at Herculaneum and Pompei, near Naples. Ancient antiquities were heavily trafficked across Europe and continental works of art flooded into Britain. A period of especially active collecting took place between the end of the Seven Years War in 1763 and the rise of Napoleon in the 1790s. As more artists and designers also visited the continent their work became increasingly informed by travel. The serious themes of classical antiquity and European art led to a new departure in painting called the Grand Style. This championed classical, historical or literary subjects, and inspired radical changes in portraiture and landscape. Widespread interest in Greek and Roman remains also fostered fresh interpretations of ancient designs by pioneers of decorative art such as Josiah Wedgwood.