Shepherd Boy

myminifactory

When not busy executing commissions for portraits, Thorvaldsen typically drew his inspirations from the Bible or ancient mythology. Meanwhile, a small number of his works deviated significantly from literary sources, and among these, the "Shepherd Boy" stands out as particularly significant. Despite this, the style of the sculpture bears such a strong resemblance to antiquity that it is impossible to mistake him for an Italian youth from Thorvaldsen's own era - let alone one from our time. He sits there with an air of quiet dignity, as if he were a brother of the mythological shepherd boy Ganymede, who was whisked away to Olympus by Jupiter's majestic eagle. In other words, Thorvaldsen, a master of classical style, has skillfully draped the naked body of the shepherd boy in a subtle yet powerful veil of classicism.