On a recent visit to London’s Victoria & Albert Musuem, I was both amused and amazed by the relationship between two pieces of sculpture I saw there.
The first, on the left, is a Renaissance Madonna by Domenico Rosselli.
The second, to the right, is by the great British sculptor Henry Moore.
The two pieces are next to each other in real life as well as here. The reason is that the piece by Moore is a copy of the Rosselli, made in about 1922 as an exercise, while Moore was still a student.
Now clearly, Moore’s version is different but equally incredible.
What amused me was the story behind it, told in a plaque on the wall. Moore’s professor instructed his students to make their copies mechanically, modelling the relief in plaster then producing a copy in marble by a technique called pointing.
Moore cheated: he carved his copy by hand direct into the marble. Then so that he would not be found out, he peppered the surface with holes to give the effect that it was a mechanical copy.
I thought this was a lovely, quirky story. I wonder if the professor ever found out!
Click on the images to see them enlarged
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Barbara Anne 10.14.08 at 8:06 pm
Hi Tess, Isn’t this interesting! How wonderful that this story is preserved and that we are left to imagine what could have happened – discovered or not?!
When our sons were small, I was intent on teaching them that there are few things in life that can be done only one way. I wanted them to learn to think and to consider the possibilities, options, and to think for themselves.
I wonder if Moore’s softer and rounder Madonna was the result of being taught a similar lesson as he grew up?! Oh, not the cheating part, of course. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more!
Barbara 10.15.08 at 5:47 am
If the professor was smart he or she never said so. Who needs technique if you are so gifted!
Tess 10.15.08 at 7:07 pm
Barbara Anne – I like the new differentiation of your name, reminds me of the old Beach Boys song!! I think that’s a great lesson you taught your sons. If children can think for themselves, then almost everything else will follow.
Barbara – I often wonder about this question of technique. Would someone like Picasso, say have been such a genius if he had not first learned the technique of his trade so he could proceed to reinvent it? And yet surely gift must come first and foremost.
susanna 10.17.08 at 1:33 pm
Sneaky, sneaky, Mr.Moore! You know, there’s an entire wing of his sculptures at the Ontario Gallery of Art in Toronto, Canada. The gallery is attached to the Ontario College of Art & Design where I studied photography. Anyway, there are some wonderful sculptures in that room…sheep, figures reclining…
Tess 10.17.08 at 7:49 pm
Hi Susanna, welcome. Well, that’s us English you know, sneaky!! Toronto was on my list of places to visit anyway, and there’s another reason.
lucy 10.21.08 at 2:50 pm
so fun to see how “real” artists create
i am reminded of when i homeschooled jonathon and asked him to draw from one of the masters. in my humble opinion, his pencil drawing was actually more interesting and intriguing than the ‘original’. inspiring!!