STATUE 19th C. | MARBLE

Description

Dated from the 19th century, Ca. 1892, white Carrara marble statue representing the mythological figure of Echo. She is represented here, wearing a draped dress revealing her chest, one hand in her ear, pretending to listen to his own voice, and leaning forward on tiptoes. Finely sculpted vegetation arise next to his feet. Minor losses.

This statue depicts the mythological figure of Echo from Ovid’s Metamorphosis. Famous from the story of Echo and Narcissus, Echo ,a mountain nymph, was punished by Hera, the wife of Zeus, after she tricked her. Hera consequently removed her ability to speak, after which point the only words Echo could say were the last words spoken to her. This meant that when she saw and fell in love with the hunter Narcissus, she was unable to tell him, and so he rejected her before later falling in love with his own reflection. After this, broken hearted Echo physically fades away and remains just a voice, being heard but never seen again.

The sculpture bears an inscription in front of "ECO" and then back "G.FONTANA.Sc.1892". Giovanni Giuseppe Fontana was born in Carrara in Italy, where he studied before leaving in 1849 for Paris before finally settling in London. He exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1852-1886.