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Saturday, July 22, 2023
Art Nouveau
Art nouveau, anyone? The rather ponderous title of this number is
The Genius loci here is the winged male, bearing a victory wreath to a seated female, who could be Νίκη (Nike) representing victory, or alternatively Juno, the Roman equivalent of Ἥρα (Hera), goddess of marriage, women and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. Juno in her Roman identity was also a counsellor of the state. Illustrations of Victory became very common in post-Great War iconography, adorning many war memorials. That a German should have used this theme is thus surprising. Whatever the motivation, the painting is a good example of the synthesis of both the Hellenic and Egyptian to be found in Greek Ptolomaic Egypt.
The Genius loci here is the winged male, bearing a victory wreath to a seated female, who could be Νίκη (Nike) representing victory, or alternatively Juno, the Roman equivalent of Ἥρα (Hera), goddess of marriage, women and family, and the protector of women during childbirth. Juno in her Roman identity was also a counsellor of the state. Illustrations of Victory became very common in post-Great War iconography, adorning many war memorials. That a German should have used this theme is thus surprising. Whatever the motivation, the painting is a good example of the synthesis of both the Hellenic and Egyptian to be found in Greek Ptolomaic Egypt.
ReplyDeleteThanks for a very interesting art history lesson. It all makes sense, and yes, the Victory element does seem odd for a German of that period.
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