Perseus at Night (The Statue of Perseus in Florence)
John Singer SARGENT
(American, 1856-1925)
Perseus at Night (The Statue of Perseus in Florence)
Dateca. 1907
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensionsoverall: 50 3/4 x 36 3/8 in. (128.9 x 92.4 cm)
frame: 59 1/4 x 44 x 3 in. (150.5 x 111.8 x 7.6 cm)
ClassificationPAINTINGS
Credit LineSBMA, Gift of Mrs. Sterling Morton to the Preston Morton Collection
Object number1960.80
Subject(s)
- figure
- mythology
Collection
- 20th century American
- American
Sub-Collection(s)
- American Impressionism
- Realism
- American
On View
Not on viewCollections
Label TextThe son of expatriates, Sargent lived and worked abroad for most of his career. His fluency in Renaissance and Baroque art as well as that of his contemporaries made him a master of portraiture, enabling him to adroitly match style and sitter. In Florence, the city of his birth, Sargent devoted several drawings and sketches to the depiction of Benvenuto Cellini’s sculpture Perseus Beheading Medusa in the Loggia dei Lanzi. Dramatically lit from below against a backdrop of the strong vertical of a Corinthian column and the vaulted ceilings of the Uffizi colonnades, Perseus stands triumphant, holding aloft the severed head of Medusa against a night sky sprinkled with stars. Originally exhibited as A Florentine Nocturne, the painting transforms a familiar tourist attraction into an atmospheric chimera of terror and awe.
