This sculpture shows an eagle and a man. The bird is sitting upright on the left hand side of the sculpture and the man is crouching to the right of him. The man is facing the eagle and feeding it from a bowl in his left hand. In the man’s right hand there is a pitcher. The man is wearing a pointed hat with flaps, and he has curly hair. The man appears to be young, around 25. Between the man’s right arm and his right thigh is a clock like cloth that drapes behind the man. This man is crouching down and his back and shoulders are hunched over.
His right knee is touching the ground and his left foot is flat on the floor making his left knee level with his right hand and the bowl. The man’s eyes are looking at the eagle’s eyes, but the eagle is looking into the bowl that he is drinking or eating from. The point of the man’s hat is bent forward in a way that mimics the eagles head. The eagle is shown in hieratic scale, almost as large as the man. The man is crouching down in a servant like position, and is performing an act of service by feeding the eagle. This sculpture appears to be in good physical shape, there are no noticeable cracks and or pieces of the marble missing.
Nothing that distracts or deters from the meaning of the piece. This Sculpture depicts a scene from greek mythology. In greek mythology Ganymedes was a trojan prince. According to mythology Ganymedes was tending to his father’s sheep when Zeus noticed him and his great beauty. Zeus then turned into an eagle, flew down to earth and brought Ganymedes back to mount olympus with him. Zeus brought Ganymedes to serve as a cupbearer and a servant to the gods. In some versions of the myth Ganymedes was also brought to serve as Zeus’ lover. When Ganymedes’ father Tros, King of Troy found out his son had been taken by Zeus he was upset.
To help Tros be less upset Zeus sent Hermes to comfort Tros, who gave the King a gift of two horses. In other accounts of the myth Zeus give Tros a golden vine and two horse that can walk on water. Ganymedes was immortalized as the constellation Aquarius. One of Jupiter’s moons is also named after him. The myth of Ganymede and Zeus was used in greek society to justify the practice of Homosexual relationships between older and younger men. This myth was mentioned many times by Plato in his writings. In this Sculpture Ganymedes is show feeding an eagle. From greek mythology we know that the eagle represents Zeus.
Ganymedes is crouched down in a position of service, and in his hands Ganymedes is holding a pitcher and a bowl. These are both feminine objects, suggesting that Ganymedes is serving Zeus the way that a wife traditionally would. In most sculptural depictions of Ganymedes and Zeus, Ganymedes is traditionally on the eagles back or in a passionate sexualized embrace. But what is interesting is that in this sculpture Thorvaldsen chose to take a more subtle path. This could have been been Thorvaldsen trying to set himself apart from his italian counterpart Antonio Canova?
While this work is not overtly sexulaized it does have hints of homosexualitly. The Eagle’s beak dipping into Ganymedes bowl is very sexualy sugestive. It is also the center of this composition, which shows that this motif is what Thorvaldsen wanted his viewers to understand. Another interesting symbol in this sculpture is Ganymede hat. The type of hat that Ganymede is wearing is called a Phrygian cap, or sometimes called a liberty cap. This type of hat was a symbol of liberty and freedom during the french revolution and came to represent liberty and freedom in art.
It is significant in this artwork because of the Homosexul themes of the scultpre. Ganymedes because of the greek myth, became an example of homosexual love. Throughout history, cultures have used Ganymedes and Zeus to justify relationships between men (Usually a younger and an older man). So the symbol of the Phrygian cap on Ganymedes head is suggesting that Thorvaldsen is claiming freedom and liberty in being gay. Many of Thorvaldsen other works have homosexual undertones. This brings to question Thorvaldsen’s own sexuality.
If Thorvaldsen was gay, this sculpture could be a representation of him accepting and claiming liberty as a gay man. Ganymedes was celebrated for his service to Zeus by being immortalized as the constellation Aquarius. The constellation Aquarius shows a man kneeling down on one knee, pouring out a container of water. The reason that Aquarius is shown like this is because Ganymedes was a cupbearer to the gods, He brought them water. Close by Aquarius is the constellation Aquila. The Constellation Aquila is shown as an eagle, which we know is the form taken by Zeus when he slew down to earth to take Ganymedes to mount olympus.