Tormented Figure
(Baroque Europe )
This figure is one of a group of works by an extremely talented but as yet unidentified sculptor called the "Master of the Furies" after his statuette of a Fury in Vienna. No "subject" is depicted but torment, expressed by the man's wild facial expression, elongated and outstretched arms, and writhing curls of hair, all characteristic of the master's later works, while the theatricality and exaggerated naturalism are more general qualities of German baroque works of art. The sculptor plays with the viewer's knowledge of ivory's inherently cylindrical shape and limited width by attaching auxiliary pieces of ivory to extend the figure's outstretched arms.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Rodolphe Kann, Paris [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; George Robinson Harding, New York [date and mode of acuqisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1925, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
1971-1972 | World of Wonder. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
Conservation
Date | Description | Narrative |
---|---|---|
8/25/1982 | Treatment | cleaned |
Geographies
Germany
(Place of Origin)
Austria (Place of Origin)
Measurements
11 3/8 in. (28.9 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters, 1925
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
71.435