Leda and The Cygnet at The Louvre, Paris

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Leda, Queen of Sparta, was ravished by Jupiter in the form of a swan. Jean Thierry's Academy diploma piece in 1717 stood out as an unusual one: although this type of subject had often been treated since the 16th century, tragic themes were generally preferred for admission to the Academy. The story of Leda corresponded to the light and carefree style that Thierry promoted at the Spanish court of King Philip V. The god Jupiter fell deeply in love with Leda, the mortal queen of Sparta. He came to her in the form of a swan, and seduced her while she was bathing in the river. This story is told by Ovid in his Metamorphoses - an early 1st-century work recounting the transformations of gods and mortals into plants or animals, which was a primary source of artistic inspiration from the Renaissance onward. The painter Antoine Coypel, director of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, imposed this theme on the sculptor Thierry in 1714 for his diploma piece. The bas-reliefs that had previously been required for Academy admission were replaced in the 18th century by statuettes sculpted in the round. Most pieces featured tragic, violent themes, such as Guillaume I Coustou's Hercules at the Stake (1704, in the Louvre), François Dumont's Titan (1712, in the Louvre), René Charpentier's Death of Meleager (1713, in the Louvre), or Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne's Death of Hippolytus (1715, in the Louvre). Thierry's Leda, on the other hand, came from a rarer romantic mythology. Leda was a recurring motif in erotic art from the Italian Renaissance, treated by artists such as Da Vinci and Michelangelo. Thierry's approach to the theme had voluptuous elegance and refinement. Leda's pose (sitting with one leg bent behind her, one arm across her body, and her head in profile) was inspired by the Nymph with a Quiver and Nymph with a Dove (in the Louvre) by Coustou, Thierry's master at Versailles. In this work, however, the contrapposto is accentuated, and the attitude more sensual. Leda's body comes alive through the upward movement of the swan that envelops her with its wings, its webbed foot on her left thigh; she is turning to the swan, her right hand on its shoulder, her left caressing its neck. The protagonists are gazing into each other's eyes with obvious passion. The spiraling forms intertwine in a swirling shape that offers multiple viewpoints to the group. The sculptor manipulated textures too, using the ridges on the swan's feathers, Leda's braided hair, and the grooves on the plinth, to highlight the smooth sheen of the queen's body. Thierry promoted this light and carefree style at the Court of Spain where he stayed from 1721 to 1728, on the invitation of King Philip V, to work with René Frémin on the sculptures in the gardens of La Granja, near Segovia. This object is part of "Scan The World". Scan the World is a non-profit initiative introduced by MyMiniFactory, through which we are creating a digital archive of fully 3D printable sculptures, artworks and landmarks from across the globe for the public to access for free. Scan the World is an open source, community effort, if you have interesting items around you and would like to contribute, email stw@myminifactory.com to find out how you can help.