Cleveland Museum of Art
Fata Morgana
Giambologna
- Date
- c. 1572
- Medium
- Marble
- Culture
- Italy
- Department
- European Painting and Sculpture
- Institution
- Cleveland Museum of Art
Commissioned by prominent banker Bernardo Vecchietti, whose surname means “old,” Fata Morgana took the name both of the nearby spring that fed the fountain she surmounted, and the legendary fairy who restored King Arthur’s youth. The Fata Morgana is one of only around a dozen sculptures in marble by Giambologna. The artist’s favorite subject was the female nude because of its capacity to showcase his extraordinary ability to model softness in hard stone and to convey dynamic movement. Her twisting pose invites the viewer to appreciate the Fata Morgana from every angle. The sculpture originally appeared to emerge mysteriously from a cave within a constructed grotto.
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