Neptune And Triton

Neptune and Triton is an early sculpture by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini. It is housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum of London and was executed c. 1622–1623. Carved from marble, it stands 182. 2 cm (71. 7 in) in height. HistoryThe sculpture was originally commissioned by Cardinal Peretti Montalto, serving as a fountain to decorate the pond in the garden of his Villa Peretti Montalto on the Esquiline Hill in Rome. It was purchased by the Englishman Thomas Jenkins in 1786, from whom it was purchased later that year by the painter Joshua Reynolds. After Reynolds's death in 1792 it was sold to Charles Pelham, who kept it in the garden of his home in Chelsea, London, Walpole House. His descendants moved it in 1906 to their country house, Brocklesby Park, Lincolnshire. It was bought from the family by the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1950, although had appeared at an exhibition at the Royal Academy in London in 1938. IconographyBernini’s Neptune and Triton references the mythological characters of Neptune (or Poseidon) and his son Triton, the rulers of the seas. Neptune and Triton are deities that appear relatively briefly in classical literature; however, they are deemed important as controllers of the earth and seas. It is a common modern misconception to attribute Neptune to just the seas; however, in Greek myth Neptune is the ruler of earth and all it possesses, just as Zeus is the ruler of the heavens and Hades is the ruler of the Underworld. Triton is actually the character attributed to ruler of (just) the seas. Neptune and Triton are often depicted in water-like settings, holding tridents and usually driving chariots that have horses shooting out from the water.

Neptune and Triton is an early sculpture by the Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini. It is housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum of London and was executed c. 1622–1623. Carved from marble, it stands 182. 2 cm (71. 7 in) in height. HistoryThe sculpture was originally commissioned by Cardinal Peretti Montalto, serving as a fountain to decorate the pond in the garden of his Villa Peretti Montalto on the Esquiline Hill in Rome. It was purchased by the Englishman Thomas Jenkins in 1786, from whom it was purchased later that year by the painter Joshua Reynolds. After Reynolds's death in 1792 it was sold to Charles Pelham, who kept it in the garden of his home in Chelsea, London, Walpole House. His descendants moved it in 1906 to their country house, Brocklesby Park, Lincolnshire. It was bought from the family by the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1950, although had appeared at an exhibition at the Royal Academy in London in 1938. IconographyBernini’s Neptune and Triton references the mythological characters of Neptune (or Poseidon) and his son Triton, the rulers of the seas. Neptune and Triton are deities that appear relatively briefly in classical literature; however, they are deemed important as controllers of the earth and seas. It is a common modern misconception to attribute Neptune to just the seas; however, in Greek myth Neptune is the ruler of earth and all it possesses, just as Zeus is the ruler of the heavens and Hades is the ruler of the Underworld. Triton is actually the character attributed to ruler of (just) the seas. Neptune and Triton are often depicted in water-like settings, holding tridents and usually driving chariots that have horses shooting out from the water.