Pastoral Apollo or Apollo the Hunter. John Flaxman (1755-1826). 1825 [Detail of signature and date on base]. Marble. Measurements given by the National Trust: 1815 mm (total height); 1080 mm (height of statue); 698 mm (diameter). Collection: Petworth House, Sussex. Facing it is the another celebrated work by Flaxman: the finished marble of St Michael Overcoming Satan. In the three photographs above, the distracting background has been digitally removed. Click on all the images to enlarge them.
Close-ups of the upper part of the statue, from the front and in profile.
Allister Neher writes, "As is usually the case in neoclassical representations of the human figure, the anatomy is correct but anatomical divisions and distinctive anatomical features have been subdued and moved towards idealisation in a figure whose beauty depends upon the elegance and clarity of its forms." Neher finds it "[t]ypical of Flaxman's works" in that "it is a subtly balanced composition that embodies the Greek spirit of rhythmical design" (119).
Related Material
Photographs and text by Jacqueline Banerjee, with thanks to the National Trust for allowing photography here. [You may use these images without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL or cite the Victorian Web in a print document.
Bibliography
Neher, Allister. "Norm and Deviations: Neo-Classicism and Anatomical Illustration in Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Britain." Risk and Regulation at the Interface of Medicine and the Arts: Dangerous Currents. Eds. Alan Bleakley, Larry Lynch and Gregg Whelan. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2017. 112-28.
"Pastoral Apollo." National Trust Collections. Web. 15 July 2020.
Created 15 July 2020