Apollo
in His Chariot with the Hours
John Singer
Sargent -- American
painter
1922–25
Museum of Fine
Arts, Boston
Colonnade
Stairway Center mural
Near front entrance
Oil
on canvas
327.66 x
767.08 cm (129
x 302 in.)
Francis
Bartlett Donation
of 1912 and Picture Fund 25.640
Jpg: MFA
(See interactive zoom
at the MFA)
Apollo is the god
of light, the patron
of music and fine arts.
From:
Gregory Fulghum
(GW
FULGH
UM@aol.com)
Date: Wed, 29 Nov
2000
I have been a long
time fan of Sargent....
When I discovered the Boston murals [in Ratcliff's book]...each of the
images just "sang" to me. Never mind I lived in Boston most of my
life before I came to Denver, CO. Somehow my parent's must have forgot
about the MFA in my childhood.
The Apollo theme
[see also the myth
of Phaethon]
is
one of my favorites and Sargent executed this one to
perfection.
There sits Apollo, chasing away darkness, pulling his mighty chariot
and
light (sunrise) behind him. Can you say "breathtaking"? But
the real clencher is the horses, which I might mention are the best
horses
ever executed by any artist in my opinion.
I was lucky to go
to the Palace of
Versailles just outside Paris a few years back and there is a colossal
fountain in the park with Apollo (presumably Louis XIV) pulling his
chariot
out of the water with a fantastic team of horses. I am moderately
suspicious that Sargent might have taken artistic license and
"borrowed"
the horses,
and
dare I say... almost mimick the park fountain at Versailles in many
aspects.
Sure, the myth is an old myth and imagery is just imagery. For
instance,
in religious art, Jesus Christ has the same "look" in almost every
image;
and image that perpetuates for centuries. One could argue that
the
myth of Apollo is perpetuated through the centuries with the same kind
of images.
When you look at
the other images
of the murals, the concept is "classic mythology" all over again, but
Sargent
is cunning in his representation and the details. It has an
originality
that only Sargent can produce. However, the Apollo mural is so
similar
to the Apollo fountain at Versailles, that I wonder if he took a direct
reference from Versailles and "re-invented" it just here and
there.
Just a guess on my part, nothing concrete or established...and quite
frankly
it doesn't really have any purpose but to satisfy my curiosity.
Gregory
Fulghum
Denver, CO
Notes:
- See the year
in
review 1925
Stairway
Ceiling Decorations
Looking
straight up
Museum
of Fine Arts, Boston
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