Storytelling: Visual Reinterpretation of a Greek Myth

For thousands of years, artists have perpetuated ancient Greek mythology through sculpture, painting and crafts.  The Philadelphia Museum of Modern Art welcomes visitors to this tradition with a bronze sculpture by Jacques Lipchitz (1891-1973) located outside the museum’s main entrance.

Prometheus Strangling the Vulture, Jacques Lipchitz.
Begun 1944, cast 1952-53. Philadelphia

The story of Prometheus is usually told as one of the labors of Hercules, but there is another layer of meaning with the heroic figure created by Lipchitz.  In the original myth, Prometheus was punished by Zeus for stealing fire from the gods and giving it to humans.  Hercules rescued Prometheus from the torturous talons of an eagle which was sent by Zeus as punishment. Clearly, Lipchitz reinterpreted this story by presenting Prometheus’s victory over a vulture (not an eagle).

     Another interpretation of Lipchitz’s Prometheus pertains to the sculptor’s own life, and conveys a struggle between good and evil.   The battle may also refer to the Lipchitz’s own artistic struggles.  Born in Lithuania, Lipchitz moved to Paris where he became part of the artistic circle working in the style of Cubism.  He won an award for a version of Prometheus at the 1937 World Exposition in Paris.  By 1940 Lipchitz fled Nazi occupation during World War II, and he relocated to the United States. The curvaceous forms of Lipchitz’s figures are interlocked in battle, but the vertical emphasis on Prometheus indicates that the hero will be victorious.

The museum director strategically placed this iconic sculpture overlooking the streets of Philadelphia and directly behind a monumental equestrian figure of George Washington.

References:

Hartt, Frederick. Art – A History of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, 

      Fourth Edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall – Harry Abrams, Inc., 1993.

     

Jacques Lipchitz. Art Directory. http://www.jacques-lipchitz.com/

     (accessed September 4, 2013).

Moncrieff, A.R. Hope. Classical Mythology. New York: Barnes and Noble, Inc., 1992.

Prometheus Strangling the Vulture, Jacques Lipchitz. 

     Collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art

     http://www.philamuseum.org/collections/permanent/

     54047.html?mulR=2139349398|1 (accessed September 4, 2013).