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Sculpture

Nessus and Deianira

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Type
Sculpture(Opens in new tab)
Date
ca. 1575
Accession number
17.13
Maker
Giambologna(Opens in new tab) (Flemish, 1529–1608)
Dimensions
16 5/16 x 12 1/2 in. (41.5 x 31.8 cm.) base: 5 7/8 x 4 1/8 in. (14.9 x 10.5 cm.)
Medium
bronze
Description
This bronze sculpture portrays the mythological centaur Nessus attempting to abduct Deianira, a princess in Greek mythology. Deianira was also the wife of Heracles, one of the greatest Greek heroes.
Credit
The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. The Arabella D. Huntington Memorial Art Collection.
Department
European Art
Find out more
View in the Art Museum catalog(Opens in new tab)
This rare, signed Nessus and Deianira (IOA BOLONGIE on the centaur’s headband), with its multitude of sinuous lines and balanced tensions—Deianira’s outstretched arm, the centaur’s straining hooves—reveals the artist’s skill at combining drama and dynamism. Giambologna balances this energetic composition—which seems to propel forward, leaving behind fluttering drapery—on the centaur’s hind legs, making the sculpture a great achievement, technically as well as visually.

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