Goddess on the Rock
岩の上の女神
- Birth Year
- 1826
- Death Year
- 1898
- Date
- ca. 1890
- Technique, Material, Format
- watercolor and gouache on paper
- Dimension
- 30.2 x 19.7 cm
- Donor name
- Mr. Sakata Takeo
- Category
- Watercolor or Drawing by Foreign Artist
- Inventory Number
- 83-DRF-011
TAKE A CLOSER LOOK: Goddess on the Rock” by Gustave Moreau (video / January 2022)
This unique vieo series deliberately includes no commentary, allowing you unimpeded enjoyment of artworks from the Yokohama Museum of Art collection in detail-rich close-up and from new angles.
A goddess bathed in light reclines in a shadowy cave. Wrapped around her right arm is a green snake, while a black bird flutters overhead. Set against the glittering surface of the rock, her expression appears both languid and mischievous. Perhaps she combines traits of several of the femmes fatales known to have fascinated Gustave Moreau. And yet, her precise source is not known. In fact, looking at the body it would seem even its gender is not completely clear. So mystery continues to surround the identity of the “Goddess” in the title, and perhaps that uncertainty is the source of “her” charm.
(Minamishima Ko)