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| Sèvres Manufactory Pygmalion and Galatea ca. 1763-66 porcelain statuette Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| Stefano della Bella Pygmalion (from card game) before 1664 etching Harvard Art Museums |
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| Johann Wilhelm Bauer Pygmalion falls in love with one of his statues ca. 1640 etching Harvard Art Museums |
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| after Henry Howard Love animating Galatea, the statue of Pygmalion ca. 1802 oil on canvas Victoria & Albert Museum |
from The Metamorphoses
Pygmalion's
marvelling soul was inflamed with desire for a semblance of body.
Again and again his hands moved over his work to explore it.
Flesh or ivory? No, it couldn't be ivory now!
He kissed it and thought it was kissing him too. He talked to it, held it,
imagined his fingers sinking into the limbs he was touching,
frightened of bruising those pure white arms as he gripped them tight.
He'd whisper sweet nothings or bring his idol the gifts which give pleasure
to girls, such as shells from the shore, smooth pebbles or tiny birds,
flowers of a thousand colours, lilies and painted balls,
or tears of amber dropped from the trees. He even dressed it
in clothes, put rings on the fingers and necklaces round the throat,
hung jewels from the ears and girdled the breasts with elegant bands.
– Ovid (8 AD), translated by David Raeburn (2004)
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| Joachim von Sandrart Pygmalion 1662 drawing Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Antoine François Dennel Pygmalion in Love with his Statue 1778 etching Hermitage, Saint Petersburg |
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| François Boucher Pygmalion and Galatea before 1770 drawing Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
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| Daniel Janssens (designer) Pygmalion, from Stories from Ovid ca. 1675 tapestry (woven at Wauters workshop, Antwerp) Art Institute of Chicago |
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| Hendrik Goltzius Pygmalion and Galatea 1593 engraving Princeton University Art Museum |
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| Louis Gauffier Pygmalion and Galatea 1797 oil on canvas Manchester Art Gallery |
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| Ernest Normand Pygmalion and Galatea 1881 oil on canvas Atkinson Art Gallery, Southport |
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| Edward Burne-Jones Pygmalion and the Image - The Heart Desires 1878 oil on canvas Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery |
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| Edward Burne-Jones Pygmalion and the Image - The Godhead Fires 1878 oil on canvas Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery |
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| Edward Burne-Jones Pygmalion and the Image - The Hand Refrains 1878 oil on canvas Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery |
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| Edward Burne-Jones Pygmalion and the Image - The Soul Attains 1878 oil on canvas Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery |