Bacchic Venuses: Maenads in a Wood by Gustave Doré

Maenads in a Wood (1879)

We have looked at the work of Gustave Doré (1832-1883) before with his painting of Andromeda. Doré was better known for his engravings, of course, but later in his comparatively short life he took up sculpture.  He first started sculpting in 1871 but didn't exhibit his first work until 1877; two years before this work.

This plaster relief was inspired by his own painting of the same year The Death of Orpheus.  In the plaster relief Orpheus is absent and we just have this splendid pile of sinuous, naked Maenads.  The Maenads were female followers of Dionysus (Bacchus in Roman mythology, hence the followers were known as Bacchantes).  Traditionally, they would get into a frenzied state through wild dancing and drinking (Maenads literally means "raving ones").  They also possessed poisoned talons and it was group of Maenads who killed Orpheus for having rejected Dionysus in favour of Apollo.

Bacchantes (the Roman term was more popular) were popular subjects with nineteenth century artists, no doubt because of the opportunity to depict wild, abandoned women or those posed in attitudes of post-frenzy sprawl.  The fact that Maenads were also believed to have engendered uncontrollable sexual frenzy amongst those they came into contact with also played well to the Victorian idea of sexual woman as predatory beast.

Triple P took this picture of the piece in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, where it is exhibited, last summer.

You have read this article European Art / nineteenth century venuses / Sculpture with the title . You can bookmark this page URL http://amandanamoradinha.blogspot.com/2013/02/bacchic-venuses-maenads-in-wood-by.html. Thanks!

Venus in Egypt: Lesley-Anne Down for Sphinx

Lesley-Anne Down was one of Triple P's favourite actresses of the seventies and early eighties.  In a previous post we admired her dressed in black stockings for the enjoyable film The First Great Train Robbery (1979) and in Upstairs, Downstairs.

Here, this time, we have her in a series of publicity photos taken in Egypt for the thriller Sphinx, for which she was the star at a time when female leads were still unusual in Hollywood.  It could have made her a major star but, unfortunately, despite being based on a popular novel by Robin Cook and good locations in Egypt it was a badly reviewed flop.  It essentially killed Lesley-Anne's film career dead and she had to concentrate on TV from then on.  There were a number of things wrong with it, not least a mis-cast Frank Langella and John Geilgud, and Down, who was so good in The First Great Train Robbery was terribly wooden in this.  She was also burdened with an unflattering haircut.  It's an OK film for a wet Sunday afternoon if you don't want to watch that other Egyptian archaeology film from that year, Raiders of the Lost Ark, again.

These publicity shots feature a costume, if you can call it that, which didn't, sadly, appear in the film.  They certainly were widely published in advance of the film's release, including in the December 1980 Playboy from the credits of which we can venture that they were shot by Michael Childers.

You have to give Down her due here as she looks sensational dressed, essentially, in two strips of very sheer fabric held together by a few bits of string.  She's not in a studio but actually out on location in Egypt where she would, no doubt, have been arrested if she had been caught dressed like this.  Full marks for nerve!

You have read this article acting venuses / British Venuses / English Venuses / twentieth century venuses with the title . You can bookmark this page URL http://amandanamoradinha.blogspot.com/2013/02/venus-in-egypt-lesley-anne-down-for.html. Thanks!