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172
COPENHAGEN.
Chap. XI.
is, however, as it stands, a fine expressive statue,
somewhat high-hipped, like the Apollo Belvedere.
And now we come to four bas-reliefs destined to
adorn the pedestal of the statue of Achilles, which was
never executed. In that of “ Briseis carried off from
Achilles ” the figure of the enraged hero is admirable :
he sits convulsed with passion, stamps with rage, clenches
his fist till the veins swell ready to burst.
In the bas-relief of “ Hebe serving wine to Hercules ”
the Hebe is the prettiest of all Thorvaldsen’s females;
not the modest Hebe, but Hebe bright and sparkling,
patroness of modern barmaids: she froths up the wine,
or whatever it may be, for Hercules, who holds out
his cup, and evidently enjoys being chaffed. “Mars
under the influence of Love ” is a fine group; a beau
ideal of manly beauty made a fool of. In “Homer
singing before the people,” Thorvaldsen has introduced
his own likeness and that of Lord Taunton. “ Hector
reproaching Paristhe soft effeminate Paris, his limbs
relaxed by indulgence, his muscles unstrung; Helen,
calm and insidious, takes the part of her lover; while
Hector, active and vigorous, a man of thew and sinews,
forms an admirable counterpart to his listless brother.
Who does not know “Night,” one of Thorvaldsen’s
fairest conceptions ? Night, crowned with poppy-heads,
wafts softly through the air two children, one dead and
hanging nerveless in her arms, while his brother sleeps
calmly : the very marble breathes sweet sleep; you feel
that the infant will wake up at break of day refreshed
and invigorated. This bas-relief might act as a narcotic
to the invalid; there is something soporific in the very
act of gazing on it. In the space of four hours did
Thorvaldsen compose and execute this most charming of his
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