Heraclitus thumbnail 1
Heraclitus thumbnail 2
On display
Image of Gallery in South Kensington

Heraclitus

Bust
1757 (made)
Artist/Maker
Lucke, Johann Christian Ludwig (Von) (made)
Place of origin
London (made)

This bust and its pair inv.no. A.201-1946 represent the so-called laughing and weeping philosophers: Democritus and Heraclitus, both from ancient Greece. They were often paired in sculpture in the 18th century to symbolise two contrasting attitudes to life. The use of steatite, a relatively rare stone, gives the busts an antique appearance.

Object details

Categories
Sculpture
Portraits
Object type
Bust
TitleHeraclitus (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Steatite
Steatite
Alabaster
Brief description
Bust, stone, alabaster, Heraclitus, Johann Christoph Ludwig von Lücke, Germany, 1757
Physical description
Bust of Heraclitus, bare-headed with a drapery thrown over his left shoulder, his right shoulder bare. His long thin wrinkled face contorted in sorrow with heavy tears flowing from the eyes.
Dimensions
  • Height: 20cm (Note: Height 20 cm Width 12,5 cm Base diameter 8,0 cm)
Marks and inscriptions
'Ludewig / von Lucke /Fecit 1757'.
Historical context
Bronze version in Mills Collection, Bisterne, nr Ringwood, Dorset, August 1999
Subject depicted
Heraclitus (Of Ephesus)
Summary
This bust and its pair inv.no. A.201-1946 represent the so-called laughing and weeping philosophers: Democritus and Heraclitus, both from ancient Greece. They were often paired in sculpture in the 18th century to symbolise two contrasting attitudes to life. The use of steatite, a relatively rare stone, gives the busts an antique appearance.
Associated object
A.201-1946
Bibliographic references
  • Theuerkauff, Christian, Elfenbein Sammlung Reiner Winkler, Vol. 1, 1984, p. 82, no. 40.
  • The Burlington Magazine XCVII, 1955, p. 92
  • Trusted, Marjorie (ed.) The making of Sculpture. The materials and techniques of European Sculpture London, 2007, p. 103, pl. 179
  • Rasmussen, Jörg, Barockplastik in Norddeutschland, Hamburg: Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, 1977.
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
A.202-1946

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Record createdJanuary 12, 2004
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O89185/heraclitus-bust-lucke-johann-christian/
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