Mercury Abducting Psyche at The Louvre, Paris

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Mercury proudly bears Psyche aloft as he escorts her to Olympus where she obtains immortality and is reunited with her lover Cupid after a series of thrilling adventures. Adriaen de Vries's monumental bronze masterpiece is a virtuoso work whose bold distribution of weight and spiraling movement create an impression of flight, drawing the spectator in to explore its many angles. During the 16th and 17th centuries, German emperor Rudolf II transformed Prague into a thriving cultural hub, attracting astronomers, writers, and artists from across Europe. The city became a magnet for mannerist artists like Bartholomaeus Spranger and Adriaen de Vries, who created two breathtaking masterpieces in bronze: Mercury Abducting Psyche and Psyche Borne by Cupids. Jealous of Psyche's beauty and enraged by her union with Cupid, the goddess Venus subjected the young woman to a series of grueling trials. However, Psyche successfully overcame each challenge, earning Jupiter's gift of immortality and forgiveness from Venus. Mercury then took Psyche to Mount Olympus, where she was reunited with her lover. The messenger god Mercury is easily recognizable by his winged ankles and petasos helmet. In the Stockholm group, Psyche elegantly raises a vase in tribute to the episode where she ventured into the underworld to obtain Persephone's beauty potion. In Prague's intellectual climate, the allegorical meaning of the sculpture cannot be ignored. Mercury Abducting Psyche personifies two concepts: Art and Genius. The group signifies that Art elevates Genius to immortality, a testament to the sculptor's proud assertion of his work's value. Adriaen de Vries appears to strive for innovation in this masterpiece, pushing the boundaries of sculpture and surpassing his master. He reinterprets Giambologna's bold distribution of weight in Flying Mercury, where the messenger god's foot seems to be the only part sustaining contact with the ground. In de Vries's work, the drapery between the two figures supports the group without compromising its lightness. The figures form a dynamic "knot of bodies" whose flowing lines spiral upward, creating an airy feeling of elevation. The sculpture invites the spectator to move around it and study its various angles, none dominating like Giambologna's Rape of the Sabine Women in Florence's Loggia dei Lanzi. The svelte bodies, firm modeling, elongated hands with slender fingers, and the figures' elegant positions all reflect the mannerism sweeping through Europe at the time, evident in Florence, Fontainebleau, and Prague.