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Ugolino and His Sons

Ugolino and His Sons is a sculptural group made in Paris by the French sculptor Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux between 1857 and 1860. The work portrays Ugolino della Gherardesca, the 13th-century Pisan political figure condemned to die of starvation with some of his children and grandchildren in a tower after conflict with Archbishop Ruggieri degli Ubaldini. Carpeaux presents Ugolino at the moment of psychological torment, with a strongly expressive composition shaped by Romantic interest in physical and emotional intensity. The figure appears absorbed and distant, while the four children cling to him; the youngest lies curled at his feet, apparently dead. The group is also influenced by the Laocoön.

Ugolino and His Sons marble sculpture showing a distressed seated man with two emaciated sons pleading around him
Ugolino and His Sons, a marble sculpture depicting a seated man surrounded by his starving sons.
June 2007 © · CC BY 2.0
Ugolino and His Sons, a large stone sculpture of intertwined male figures in a museum hall.
Ugolino and His Sons displayed on a pedestal in the museum\'s European Sculpture Court.
May 2012 © · CC BY-SA 4.0
Ugolino and His Sons, a white marble sculpture of a man surrounded by several children in a museum hall.
Ugolino and His Sons by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux displayed in a museum gallery.
January 2006 © · CC BY 2.0
Close-up of Ugolino and His Sons showing a white marble figure with a deeply distressed expression and clenched hands at his face.
Detail of Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux’s Ugolino and His Sons, showing the figure’s anguished expression and tense hands.
© · Public domain
Stone sculpture of Ugolino and His Sons showing a man in intense anguish with his hands gripping his mouth.
Ugolino and His Sons, shown here in a black-and-white photograph of the sculpture’s anguished central figure.
May 2013 © · CC BY 2.0

Identification

TitleUgolino and His Sons
French titleUgolin et ses fils
Italian titleUgolino e i suoi figli
TypeGroup sculpture

Creator

ArtistJean-Baptiste Carpeaux
Artist nationalityFrench

Historical context

Date of creation1857–1860
Place of creationParis
ContextBased on Dante's Inferno, Canto XXXIII, the story of Ugolino della Gherardesca imprisoned and left to die with his children and grandchildren in a tower by Archbishop Ruggieri degli Ubaldini

Iconography and meaning

SubjectUgolino della Gherardesca
Depicted momentThe moment when Ugolino considers cannibalism
Children depictedFour children surround and cling to Ugolino; the youngest is curled at his feet and is presumably dead
Narrative interpretationThe sculpture makes the possibility of cannibalism more evident, though it remains unclear whether Ugolino actually ate his children

Appearance

ExpressionHighly expressive, emphasizing physical, psychological, and emotional states
Posture and gazeUgolino looks into the distance and seems unaware of the four children clinging to him

Physical characteristics

Figure portrayalUgolino's body is muscular despite starvation

Style

StyleRomantic
Stylistic influencesMichelangelo, especially the Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel, and the Laocoön and His Sons group in the Vatican

Technique

PreparationCarpeaux sketched dying children and used naturalistic observation for the children's anatomy

Location and ownership

Original castingBronze cast made in 1863 for the French Ministry of Fine Arts and displayed in the Tuileries Palace alongside a replica of the Laocoön
Marble versionA marble version was completed in Paris under Carpeaux's supervision for the owner of the Saint-Béat marble quarry to exhibit at the 1867 Exposition Universelle; it was later acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City

History and restoration

Completion contextCompleted during the last year of Carpeaux's residence at the French Academy in Rome, at the Villa Medici

Significance

ReceptionThe plaster model caused a public sensation and was noted for its boldness, vigor, and spirit and masterly technique worthy of Michelangelo; it departed from French academic tradition
Career impactThe work launched Carpeaux's career and led to further commissions, including the façade of the Palais Garnier and La Danse
Art-historical associationsAssociated with the French Romantic sculptors François Rude and Auguste Préault; Carpeaux admired Rude, who was also his mentor

Other

Later adaptationA woodcut of Ugolino was used by Max Ernst as the basis for a surrealist image in La femme 100 têtes, probably taken from the catalog of the universal exposition; the terror in Ugolino's face was preserved and combined with musical instruments