Anne-Louis Girodet - Pygmalion & Galatée

Girodet depicts the moment when Venus brings the statue of Galatea to life, following Ovid's account in the Metamorphoses. The sculptor Pygmalion watches the miracle with a mixture of adoration and astonishment: he leans toward the figure but does not dare touch her or straighten up, as if any sudden movement might break the spell. His red mantle embroidered in gold, which hints at his royal status and at the colour of love, contrasts with Galatea's pale skin, which seems to hover between marble and flesh. Cupid floats above the scene with a mischievous glance directed at the statue of Venus, linking the two lovers without yet joining their hands. Incense smoke and the light radiating from the statue give the scene an almost theatrical atmosphere. The painting is often seen as a work of transition: its mythological subject and its devotion to antiquity place it within Neoclassicism, while the heightened emotion of Pygmalion anticipates Romantic sensibility. Girodet worked on it for a long time, as his letters record, facing difficulties such as finding models and an illness that affected him.

Painter

Anne-Louis Girodet

Date

1819

Medium

oil paint, canvas

Dimensions

253 × 202 cm

Museum

Louvre Museum, Paris

Movement

Neoclassicism

Genre

mythological painting, nude

Depicts

rose, Eros, chignon, sculptor, smoke, sandal, pubic hair removal, statue

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