Melancholia
Posted: August 22, 2013 Filed under: Art, Painting/Drawing | Tags: ambiguity, Ariadne, cityscape, Giorgio de Chirico, greek, greek mythology, italian, Melancholia, melancholy, metaphysical, modern art, Naxos, Philadelphia Museum of Art, sculpture, statue Leave a comment
The Soothsayer’s Recompense. Giorgio de Chirico. 1913.
This painting is one of a series of melancholic cityscapes that de Chirico painted featuring a lone statue in a deserted Italian piazza. The antique statue represents the sleeping Ariadne, who according to Greek mythology was abandoned by her lover on the desert island of Naxos. The confrontation of the classical world with a modern steam engine in the distance creates an uneasy ambiguity of time and space.
(From Philadelphia Museum of Art)
Melancholia. Giorgio de Chirico. 1916
Melancholy of a beautiful day. Giorgio de Chirico. 1913
