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Ganymede with Jupiter's Eagle

Ganymede with Jupiter's Eagle is a sculpture by the Danish artist Bertel Thorvaldsen. Several versions exist; the most famous is displayed at the Thorvaldsen Museum in Copenhagen. Other marble examples are held in museums and collections in Brescia, Leipzig, Norfolk, London, New York, Bray, and Minneapolis, and the Thorvaldsen Museum also owns two plaster versions. Thorvaldsen’s marble copy was made in Italy from 1815, brought from Livorno to Copenhagen aboard the Danish corvette Galathea in 1833, and left to the museum after the artist’s death in 1844. The work shows Ganymede kneeling before Jupiter’s eagle, with smooth skin and carefully worked plumage, and has been praised for its unsettling beauty and formal perfection.

Ganymede with Jupiter\'s Eagle marble sculpture of a kneeling young man offering a dish to an eagle.
Ganymede with Jupiter\'s Eagle, a white marble sculpture showing a kneeling figure offering a dish to an eagle.
© · Public domain
Ganymede with Jupiter\'s Eagle marble sculpture of a kneeling youth offering a bowl to an eagle
Ganymede with Jupiter\'s Eagle by Bertel Thorvaldsen, showing a kneeling youth feeding an eagle.
© · CC BY-SA 3.0
Ganymede with Jupiter\'s eagle marble sculpture of an eagle drinking from a bowl held by a kneeling male figure
Ganymede with Jupiter\'s Eagle, a marble sculpture showing the eagle drinking from a bowl held by the kneeling figure.
July 2017 © · CC BY 3.0
Ganymede with Jupiter’s eagle, a white sculpture of a kneeling nude youth offering a bowl to a large eagle on a pedestal.
Ganymede with Jupiter’s eagle, shown here in a monochrome photograph of the sculpture on its pedestal.
April 2011 © · Public domain
Ganymede with Jupiter\'s Eagle marble sculpture of a kneeling youth offering a bowl to an eagle
Ganymede with Jupiter\'s Eagle by Bertel Thorvaldsen, shown as a marble sculpture in the museum.
May 2012 © · CC0

Identification

TitleGanymede and the Eagle
Alternative titlesGanymede with Jupiter's Eagle; Ganymede drinking for Jupiter's eagle; Ganymede, watering Zeus's eagle
TypeSculpture

Creator

ArtistBertel Thorvaldsen
Artist nationalityDanish

Historical context

Thorvaldsen in RomeHe lived in Rome from 1797 to 1838 and was a central figure for Scandinavian and German artists on the Grand Tour studying ancient Roman culture
Thorvaldsen reputationContemporaries considered Thorvaldsen the most important sculptor after Antonio Canova
Thorvaldsen's Ganymede worksHe made five different sculptures and two reliefs on the subject of Ganymede
Art movementNeoclassicism

Iconography and meaning

Mythological contextGanymede was a Trojan prince in Greek mythology; Zeus fell in love with him, abducted him to Olympus with the help of an eagle sometimes identified as Zeus himself, and made him cupbearer of the gods, living in eternal youth
InterpretationThe eagle combines the power of the father of the gods and the ferocity of a predator, overcome by beauty and love; in art, the relationship between Zeus and Ganymede is usually portrayed as erotic
Thorvaldsen's iconographic choiceThorvaldsen did not depict either the violent abduction of the boy or the handsome youth as cupbearer
SubjectGanymede and Jupiter's eagle (Zeus's eagle)

Appearance

DepictionGanymede kneels in front of the eagle; he has smooth skin and a trusting gaze; the eagle's plumage is carefully worked

Physical characteristics

Number of examplesSeveral

Materials

MaterialsMarble; plaster versions also exist

Location and ownership

Other marble examplesPinacoteca Tosio Martinengo, Brescia, Italy; Museum of Fine Arts, Leipzig, Germany; Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia, United States; Heim Gallery, London; Kennedy Galleries, New York, United States; Killruddery House, Bray, Ireland; Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States; Athenaeum, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Thorvaldsen Museum plaster examplesTwo plaster examples
First marble version later provenancePresented in 1966 by the Morse Foundation to the Minneapolis Institute of Art
Most famous exampleThorvaldsen Museum, Copenhagen
Museum acquisitionAfter Thorvaldsen's death in 1844, the Galathea sculptures were left to the Thorvaldsen Museum
Related works by ThorvaldsenThorvaldsen also depicted Ganymede as cupbearer in two other sculptures: Ganymedes skænker i skålen (1816) and Ganymedes rækker skålen (plaster version c. 1805, marble version 1820s), both exhibited in the Thorvaldsen Museum
Other version ownership in the 19th centuryA marble version belonged in the mid-19th century to the Hottinguer banking family in Paris

Discovery and provenance

Possible original plaster modelAnother version, possibly the original plaster model, was also aboard the Galathea
Second versionAccording to Thorvaldsen, a second version was produced in 1824 and may be identical to the marble version sent to Copenhagen aboard the Galathea in 1833
First marble version related commissionThe duke also had a bust of himself and a copy of Thorvaldsen's Charites relief made in Rome
First marble version arrivalConfirmed to have arrived safely in London on 4 January 1830
First marble version completion date1829
First marble version basisProbably based on a sketch, drawing, small clay statuette, or possibly a full-size model in clay or plaster
First marble version commission contextCommissioned after the duke visited Rome in spring 1817
First marble version patronGeorge Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland
Marble version madeMade in Italy from 1815 onwards
Marble version transportedTaken from Livorno to Copenhagen on the Danish corvette Galathea in 1833

Significance

Art historical assessmentFritz Baumgart described the sculpture as marked by 'eerie beauty' and unsurpassed in formal perfection