Art History Statue Analysis

Riya Jeff Assignment 1 The Littlefield Fountain sculpture, created in 1933 by Pompeo Coppini, is a multiplex creation, containing many components, details, and focuses. From a central perspective, one can see three horses, with two riders on the sides, emerging from water. Additionally, the foremost focus is appointed to the almost celestial individual that stands above the horses, holding two torches. Moreover, an aspect of this sculpture that cannot be seen from a frontal perspective, but is crucial, is the ship. The sculpture is overall rusty, as it is within a fountain, indicating the medium is some sort of metal. With that being said, the sculpture can be dissected and analyzed from many perspectives: the horses, the celestial individual, and the ship. All major aspects of this sculpture are composed with intricate detail and work, which can be examined in a holistic and detailed manner that work together to create a broader meaning. An alluring component of this piece is the three horse like creatures with their riders on top of them. When looking closer, it is clear that these horse-like creatures are actually not horses. They have tails, which are glossy and smooth, just like a dolphin. This elegant and polished nature is juxtaposed by the muscular and chaotic upper portion of the creature. The top half of the creature is very similar to a horse, as it has a mane, hooves, muscles, and the head of a horse. However, these creatures are not completely horse-like from the top portion because their hooves have some weblike component to it, as it looks almost elastic and something similar to bat wings. Additionally, these creatures are in midair as their front hooves are in the air, as if someone had startled them. When looking directly, the creature on the left is slanted slightly to the left, while the creature on the right is slanted slightly to the right, and the center one remains straight. Nonetheless, they are all in the air with their mouths open like they are neighing. Riya Jeff The two riders that are on top of the horse-like creatures are a fascinating couple as they are filled with intricate details of humanistic and non-humanistic features. The hornlike features on their head mixed with their bulging muscular build gives them this demi-god look. Their physique is carefully defined with every little detail of their muscle carefully sculpted, almost as if you can see their muscles contracting while attempting to steer the water horses. Their attempt in taming the water horses is depicted to be a struggle due to the strain that can be visually seen in their arm muscles. The aforementioned neighing of the horses in conjunction with the carefully depicted muscle contractions of the quasi-humans creates this vivid depiction of an arduous struggle. In order to control these water horses, the quasi humans are depicted to have been holding the horses’ mane. This helps add to the visually apparent sense of struggle between the horses and the humans. Furthermore, these humans are depicted to be bare and below the individual with the torches. Another interesting fact about this battle is that there are only two quasi humans whereas there are 3 horse-like creatures. Each of the humans is using one hand to control the outside horses and working in tandem in order to tame the middle horse. This again accentuates the struggle to control the horses that is visually depicted by the artist. The ship is rusted and has algae and buildup on its side which is indicative of the effect the consistent flow of water from the water has had on it. It can be concluded that if one were to touch the ship, there is a chance of some algae or rust getting on their hands. The sculpture in itself is composed of bronze material, which is deduced by the little remaining bronze-colored portions left as the rest is a green like color due to the water splashing on the piece. Additionally, The ship is not fully created as only half of it is sculpted with the rest being implicit because it is coming out of the wall. The words November MDCC XVII are also engraved across its hull. The main character on the ship seems to be a roman/viking-esque woman that is raising both hands - Riya Jeff similar to how the statue of liberty is raising her one hand but with both. She is holding a leaflike figure in one hand - probably a flame and a club figure with lines protruding out of it on the other. The lady has beautiful, broad, almost angelic-like wings, and features suggesting she could be a roman goddess. Moreover, the clothes on this individual were crafted in such a way that indicated that there is a strong wind, as there are many folds and wrinkles in her dress. Her dress resembles that of a toga as it is one piece of a long, loose fabric gracefully hanging from her body. Her helmet has a beautiful finish on the top with a horn-esque figure and clear definition with the symmetric lines applied alongside them. The woman with wings is standing in the middle of the ship in a commanding disposition whereas two men, who stand below her, are depicted to be standing behind her on her left and right. These two men are soldiers with seemingly modern war helmets patched on their head. They each hold swords that span from their toes to their neck. The Littlefield Fountain is a magnificent sculpture that embodies a work of art that required immense amounts of patience and diligence. This sculpture is relatively big as the many components make the sculpture look bigger but also the height of the angel-like individual gives the sculpture a taller look to it. More than attempting to understand the meaning and historical context of the sculpture, the artistic skill and attention to detail that encompasses this sculpture is something of great hard work and talent. The sculpture at Littlefield fountain is truly a remarkable work of art. When observed closely there are many minute features that accentuate the warlike and grandiose aura. From the dolphin horses to the soldiers on top of the boat, this sculpture is a piece that took meticulous planning.