Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
British Galleries, Room 120, The Wolfson Galleries

Love Animating Galatea, the Statue of Pygmalion

Oil Painting
ca. 1802 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Object Type
Oil paintings based on classical stories were very popular at the beginning of the 19th century. This painting is a copy or version of Henry Howard's picture of the same title exhibited at the Royal Academy, London, in 1802.

Subject Depicted
The subject of this painting is the ancient Greek legend of Pygmalion, who was both a sculptor and King of Cyprus. According to Ovid's Metamorphoses, a long poem in Latin describing the fantastical transformations of gods, animals, elements and mortals into one another, Pygmalion fell in love with a life-like statue he had carved of his own ideal woman. At his earnest prayer, Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, took pity on him and brought the statue to life. He then married his creation. This myth was a popular theme for artists, as the hero of the tale was, like them, an aspiring artist in love with his art, and an inspiration to everyone who sought to create sublime decorative or fine art.

People
Henry Howard (1769-1847) originally aspired to be a history painter in the manner of Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792). Having become a friend of the sculptor and designer John Flaxman (1755-1826) while they were studying in Rome from 1791 to 1794, Howard continued to follow his friend's distinctive form of Neo-classicism on returning to Britain. He was also influenced by French Neo-classical artists, and tried to imitate their stylised rendering of classical scenes.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleLove Animating Galatea, the Statue of Pygmalion (popular title)
Materials and techniques
oil on canvas
Brief description
Oil painting depicting 'Love animating Galatea, the statue of Pygmalion', copy by an unidentified painter of the original by Henry Howard RA, ca. 1802
Physical description
Oil painting
Dimensions
  • Height: 50.16cm
  • Width: 60.32cm
  • Frame height: 64cm
  • Frame width: 75cm
  • Frame depth: 5.5cm
Style
Gallery label
British Galleries: Regency artists often used scenes from classical literature as subjects for their paintings. Here, the mythical Greek sculptor Pygmalion is shown admiring his own statue of a perfect woman. He asked the goddess Aphrodite to bring the sculpture to life and his wish was granted. The figures here are shown in profile, as if on a classical relief.(27/03/2003)
Credit line
Bequeathed by Rev. Chauncey Hare Townshend
Object history
Bequeathed by Rev. Chauncey Hare Townshend, 1868.
The original was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1802.
Production
Copy by an unidentified painter of the original by Henry Howard RA
Subjects depicted
Summary
Object Type
Oil paintings based on classical stories were very popular at the beginning of the 19th century. This painting is a copy or version of Henry Howard's picture of the same title exhibited at the Royal Academy, London, in 1802.

Subject Depicted
The subject of this painting is the ancient Greek legend of Pygmalion, who was both a sculptor and King of Cyprus. According to Ovid's Metamorphoses, a long poem in Latin describing the fantastical transformations of gods, animals, elements and mortals into one another, Pygmalion fell in love with a life-like statue he had carved of his own ideal woman. At his earnest prayer, Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, took pity on him and brought the statue to life. He then married his creation. This myth was a popular theme for artists, as the hero of the tale was, like them, an aspiring artist in love with his art, and an inspiration to everyone who sought to create sublime decorative or fine art.

People
Henry Howard (1769-1847) originally aspired to be a history painter in the manner of Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792). Having become a friend of the sculptor and designer John Flaxman (1755-1826) while they were studying in Rome from 1791 to 1794, Howard continued to follow his friend's distinctive form of Neo-classicism on returning to Britain. He was also influenced by French Neo-classical artists, and tried to imitate their stylised rendering of classical scenes.
Bibliographic reference
p. 187 Loukia Loizou Hadjigavriel, Myrto Hatzaki and Demetra Theodotou Anagnostopoulou, eds., The Venus Paradox. Nicosia : A.G. Leventis Gallery, [2017]. ISBN: 9789963732265
Collection
Accession number
1397-1869

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Record createdMarch 27, 2003
Record URL
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