Leda and the Swan

Roman, 2nd C. BCE

(note: this is one of those endless posts --

i.e. whenever a new Leda turns up,

I add it to the list)

Recently, I've been finding several versions

of Leda and Swan

So, I thought I'd gather them all together,

from my site and from the rest of the web,

to do a little comparison.

It's such a bizarre theme, isn't it ?

An impossible mating,

but it has drawn the attention of sculptors

for over 2,000 years

Beginning with the above scene

from Republican Rome,

which I think is the only one that

has the swan large enough

to actually mate with a woman,

as well as being the only one

that would suggest that the swan

is the aggressor,

which seems true to the original premise

that the bird is a powerful God in disguise.

(and this is, BTW, one great sculpture)

Roman, 1st Century

This must be a very small piece.

It looks like they're dancing, doesn't it ?

A beautiful piece,

but already Leda is at least

the swan's equal.

(and again, much as I like the sculpture of

the 20th Century,

this Roman guy was better than most of them)

But here's a Roman piece from the Prado

that is something of a disaster -

i.e. I think it was carved by technicians

who had no particular feeling for

what they were doing.

Leda raising her arm in triumph

to declare:

"I have captured the swan" ?

(although the "swan" looks more like

some strange musical instrument)

And this variation (from the Getty Museum)

is hardly any better.

(though, at least the Swan's neck isn't broken)

I get the feeling

that ancient Roman statuary

was made for the kind of market

which today would be buying

pink flamingos

to stand beside the driveway.

Coptic (300 - 641 AD)

This is one angry goose,

and this is more of a battle scene

than an erotic one.

Or.. even more than that,

it's a decorative frieze,

which, for me,

makes it the most delicious

Ammanati 1511-1591)

Jumping ahead a thousand years,

the swan is a kinder, gentler creature,

and Leda looks like one of those

masculine women that Michelangelo (b. 1475) was making.

I love Ammanati,

but not especially this one

which feels like a homage to Michelangelo.

David Anguier, 1654

A very courtly dance,

Leda is fully clothed

to appear in the court

of the greatest prince of Christianity.

(the Sun King would have been 16 at that time)

It's all prim and proper,

but gently pinching that swan's phallic neck at the tip,

there's just a pleasant hint of naughtiness

Jean Thierry (1669-1739)

The swan appears to be making trouble again,

but Leda has everything under control

Jean Thierry, 1715

a lot of sound and fury,

but for what purpose ?

Perhaps that's how me might

define "the Baroque"

From the Scindia Museum, Gwalior (19th or 18th C. ??)

This is the earliest completely erotic

example I could find.

Were the Scandian princes attracted

to European women ?

What an enormous palace they must have had

to accomodate such an enormous,

and controversial piece.

Rudolph Tegners (1873-1950)

This one comes from Robert's website,

and seems to be a throwback to the

very earliest piece on this page.

(But why is that bird pecking her

on the top of the head ?)

Tegners

This one looks like

they're posing for a photographer

at the high school prom.

(except, of course, nobody is wearing clothes)

Josef Thorak (1889-1952)German

Back to the frankly erotic,

Thorak was given an enormous

air-plane hanger by the Nazis

to use as a studio.

It resembles a painting

of the same theme

that apparently was one of Adolph's favorites.

Poul Lemser (1925-1980)Danish

Cute and charming,

appropriate for the glass case

in which fine porcelains are displayed.

(and this Leda is just a little underage

to be necking with that great bird,

isn't she?

Quinto Martelli (1908-1990)

Back to the frankly erotic,

as the swan's head and neck

become phallic,

and her toes are extended

as she reaches a climax.

P. Silvestre, American

This looks like an Egyptian-ized version

that has been covered by desert sands

for a few thousand years.

This one definitely belongs in a library.

PUTTEMANS, Auguste (1866-1927)Belgium

Another very strange entry,

it's almost as if Leda had just taken

the swan out of the oven

and is preparing him to the the

centerpiece of a banquet.

(all she needs is an apron)

Kai Nielsen, Danish, (1882-1925)

For whatever reason,

this theme seems to be the most popular

in Scandinavia

Kai Nielsen

A very tender, loving moment

in the relationship

between these two species

(and this looks like another Leda

who may not have reached

the age of consent)

Fred Carasso (1899- )

Fred Carasso (Italian)

I like this style of medallion

that leaves most everything

to the imagination

Henri Puvrez (1893-1971) Belgian

Now it looks like the swan has been demoted

to become a house pet,

and Leda is giving him a good snuggle

(as she emerges from the bath)

Gleb Derujinsky (1888-1975)

A rather confusing piece,

it seems like it should be very small,

and function like a netsuke

Ercole Drei (1886-1973)

Back to the erotic,

this one seems to be best exemplify

the poem by Yeats

"How can those terrified vague fingers push

The feathered glory from her loosening thighs?"

Here's another,

tamer version

by the same sculptor.

It's more like Leda is dancing

than being ravished

Reuben Nakian (American, 1897-1986), American

Here's a sculpture who specialized in Ledas,

but it's anyone's guess

just what is happening here.

The swan seems to be strutting his stuff,

and Leda is acting appropriately impressed.

Nakian

Nakian makes more sense to me

as a designer of ceramic plates

Nakian

... or as a draftsman

Nakian

Nakian

Nakian

R.J. Miller (b. 1922), American

And here's my father's version

(accompanied for this photo by two long-departed kittens

named Muff and Fluff)

Leda looks so solemn - maybe sad,

as if the swan that she's wearing about her neck

had been the yoke traditionally used to

restrain/punish prisoners in China

This seems to be more of an architectural ornament

than of an erotic narrative

Per Ung

Another sculptor who has specialized in Leda

is my favorite living Norwegian, Per Ung.

Here, the swan almost seems to be a burden

that she is destined to carry.

Per Ung

Another wrestling match,

an avian version of

"Jacob and the Angel"

Per Ung (b. 1933) Norway

There's something especially sexual

about Leda reaching down

between her own legs,

and this feature first appeared

way back in Roman times.

Per Ung

When the action is stretched out this way,

it feels like something cosmic is being presented,

i.e. it's not just a strange girl and her bird.

Karen Salicath, Danish

And the myth continues,

up to the work of this young woman

who was born in 1968

Karen Salicath

Very cute,

maybe too cute ?

Isn't this a girl with her pet ?

(but who can blame

the only female sculptor on this page

from being less than enthusiastic

about the theme of ravishment ?)

Here's another

female sculptor,

Antonietta Raphael

(Lithuanian-Italian)

where the swan

is more like a coat of feathers

*****************************

And now Robert

has sent me some more !

(though he hasn't always

recorded the name of the artist)

Ouch !

(Robert doesn't like to pass judgment,

but I can't help it)

Ouch again !

(but I like the reversal

of roles -- which is ridiculous

but no less so than the original concept)

Pradier

This has to be one of those Art Deco Germans,

just as perverted as they can be

(but as it turns out, I'm wrong...

it's Jean Jacques Pradier, Swiss,

and the piece is dated 1851)

Actually -- I kind of like this sculpture,

and it's pedastal,

but what the hell is going on here ?

Just about as bad

as bad 19C. commercial sculpture can be

This one sure feels East European to me,

I have difficulty imagining the other views,

but this view is fine with me.

(actually -- it's Enzo Plazzotta,

the Italian who worked in Britain)

Robert Cockle Lucas (1800- 1883)

So here we have a copy, a bad copy

of the Roman piece shown at the very top,

which I'll show again as follows:

Roman, 2nd C. BCE

Isn't it amazing what a difference

the small differences can make ?

The copyist had no feeling for what I might call

"the large shape".

Look at how he improvises by

introducing new, smaller forms within the shape

of Leda's buttocks and back that kills the

wonderful sweep of the original.

Look at how he thickens

her arm to make it look dumpy.

Look at how mis-draws

the neck of the swan so it looks broken

instead of strong.

Look at how he changes the proportions of the

flight feathers in the wing so they look puny.

Look at how he wrecks the triangular shape

of the drapery at Leda's leg

so it no longer appears to support her,

how he shrinks the space between Leda and the swan's wing

so it's no longer spacious.

Every change he made was wrong,

he understood nothing about how the original sculpture

was so successful.

A complete disaster !

(and Mr. Lucas was trained at the Royal Academy,

and made this piece when he was 50)

19c French ivory

This looks like a fine little piece to me,

and very fanciful the way that

Leda appears to be leaning against

the bird's wing

Bertram Mackennal (1863-1931)

And didn't you just know this sculptor had to be Anglo ?

(he's Australian, actually)

I presume this object has some kind of functionality ?

that possibly involves the spike that's on the swan's head ?

Maurice Ferrary (1852-1904)

All that's missing are the cigarettes !

More Reuben Nakian

(I think I've seen enough, already)

There's a reason that sculptors

try to proceed beyond their rough sketches.

I wish the US mint

had coins that looked like this one.

In the manner of Lorenzo Bartolini, 1777-1850

Robert has sent this one,

it appears to be 18th C.,

but who knows?

This Leda is very young, boyish Leda

without any hips

Lelio Coluccini (1910-1983) Italy-Brazil

Lelio Coluccini

Coluccini seems to have been

another Leda specialist

Falconet after Bouchet

Here's an innovation:

Leda in a three-some

Aart Schonk

What a nice, dreamy treatment!

When the swan is more like a down comforter.

(but I wonder how the other views look)

Heinz Beberniß (born 1920)

This Leda is from the "Heavy Figure School"

John Sims (his website is found here )

is another specialist in the genre.

Very erotic --

But this is more about how

the participants are feeling,

rather than how they are presented

to our voyeuristic eyes.

Edouard Cazaux (1889-1974)

Edouard Houssin (1847-1919)

Here's another one sent by Robert Mileham.

One of the few that shows

the great bird

approaching from the rear.

Feels very 18th C.

Jules Roulleau (1855-1895)

Here's a feast

of flesh and feathers

from the 19th C.

Not much erotic energy here,

this would work well

as a decorative centerpiece

on a large table,

perhaps surrounded by

seasonal flowers and fruits.

Armand Martial (1884-1960)

A very nice figure,

but this girl is laying

with a down comforter,

not a sexually active bird

Jules Desbois (1851-1935)

This looks like a model study that got retro-fitted with a swan.

But still, the French government commissioned

a marble version in 1891

Josef Josephu (Austrian /American 1889-1970)

(from Jennmaur Gallery )

That pesky bird

can be so annoying

when it demands attention.

Here is the same sculptor, Josephu, with

what may be a more engaging version.

Boucher

Here's an Italian site that's collected paintings on the subject,

from which the above tender scene has been taken.

Unlike sculpture, painting can manipulate atmospheric effects and perspective.

(If Leda stood up, I don't think

her spindly legs could support that giant head)

This time, the swan wants to have

a good look at Leda's lady parts,

but Leda seems more like the servant

than the lady to whom this dusty old palace belongs.

And unlike most realizations

that anthropomorphize the swan,

this is more like one bird meeting another,

beak to beak.

Here's a more contemporary piece

by the South African sculptor, Wim Botha.

It looks like something

that might be seen

as a momentary flash

in the contemporary staging

of a Baroque opera.

Poor Leda and her swan

got together and then exploded!

How sad.

Carrier-Belleuse, 1870

(I just stumbled across this one at the Met)

Paul Matthias Padua (1903-1981)

Apparently, Hitler owned this painting

Joseph Charles Marin

Very sensitive and discreet, this youthful Leda gently caresses the neck of the swan.

Giuseppe Croff (1810-1869)

Robert has sent me yet another entry, this one being Neo-Classical from mid nineteenth century Milan. It has something of the quiet, egg-like majesty of Milan's favorite son, Leonardo.  But it does seem rather stiff, turgid, and dull.  No sexuality here.
 Leda is petting the swan as if he were a house cat. 

Gauguin, 1887

 

Just saw this ceramic vase in a  special exhibit at the Art Institute of Chicago.

It looks like the girl is carrying her swan to market.

Gerome,  1895

This is the first example I've seen where the lovers meet in the swan's world

rather than Leda's.

Achille Valois, Fontaine de Leda, 1807

The head and neck of the swan

bear an unfortunate resemblance

to a hand held shower head.

I'm sure it looks better

with water pouring from its beak.