The Sluggard

myminifactory

This life-size study was originally designed as a pair to complement the sculptor's 'An Athlete Wrestling a Python'. Frederic Leighton initially titled the sculpture 'An Athlete Awakening from Sleep', but may have felt that the new title better emphasizes the languid mood of the piece. Giuseppe Valona, the Italian model who posed for An Athlete Struggling with a Python, was again used for The Sluggard. Edgcumbe Staley described the moment when: 'Giuseppe Valona, the model, a man of fine proportions, weary one day of posing in the studio, threw himself back, stretched out his arms and gave a great yawn. Leighton saw the whole performance and fixed it roughly in clay straight off.' This anecdote suggests that the artist was inspired by the spontaneous movement of the model, but in fact the same contrapposto pose was present in Leighton's work as early as 1869. A preliminary sketch of the pose can be found here. 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.