The Death of Dido, sculpted by Claude-Augustine Cayot in 1711, now rests in the Louvre. Depicted, is Dido kneeling on her funeral pyre while piercing her chest with Aeneas' sword. While we haven't covered the Baroque period, I think The Death of Dito is notable. He uses the half dressed woman, similar to Praxiteles sculpture, Aphrodite of Cnidus during the Hellenic period. We even see an action scene, like in Hellenistic period, where Dito has blood dripping down her abdomen, and she's clearly in motion. While Roman art didn't necessarily focus on Gods and Goddesses, the emotion of Dito reflects Hellenistic and Roman artwork. I think comparing different periods of work is important because various characteristics cross over.
2 comments:
I really like the way you are thinking about the statue. It definitely shows that art can't always be pigeonholed and assigned a one-to-one correspondence. Sometimes it does show elements of one or more periods or cultures.
I agree that the emotions show more of the Hellenic period. When we read the Aeneid it sounded as if Dido was in a tremendous amount of pain. If she was not, why would she have killed herself? You would expect this sculpture to represent those emotions. But instead her face is content. To me that almost makes me think of her emotion at this time as satisfied with the fact that she is completing what she wants. She is getting to kill herself. Almost a sort of relief and that the pain is exiting her body.
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