Puck by Thomas Woolner (1825-1892). 1845-47. Plaster statuette. 498 x 355 x 280 mm. Collection: Tate, T05857. Presented by the Patrons of British Art though the Friends of the Tate Gallery, 1991. Image kindly released under Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED.
The Tate's artwork caption explains,
Thomas Woolner has illustrated a scene here from an "Imaginary Biography" of Puck. He alights on a mushroom to save a sleeping frog from a hungry snake. The sculpture captures the instant before a sudden movement – as Puck touches the frog with his foot it will jump away just before the snake attacks.Ideal or poetic subjects drawn from literature, mythology or history, were highly regarded by sculptors in the mid-nineteenth century.
A closer view of the leafy base, with Puck's foot just touching the frog, to save it from the snake.
Links to Related Material
Images downloaded, caption material added, and formatting by Jacqueline Banerjee. [Click on the images for larger pictures.]
Bibliography
Puck. Tate. Web. 28 April 2024.
Created 28 April 2024