Harvard Art Museums

Aeolus and the Winds

Unidentified ArtistLinkedCulture matchlcp-bdf4c909d9a9

Date

1645-1670

Medium

Bronze with black-brown patina

Culture

Flemish

Department

Department of Paintings, Sculpture & Decorative Arts

Institution

Harvard Art Museums

Object ID

5519

According to Greek mythology, Aeolus lived on the island Aeolia, identified today with Lipari or Stromboli, north of Sicily. He kept the winds in a cave and released them to help or impede nautical voyages. In this dynamic bronze, Aeolus is shown as a bearded old man with a powerful physique, a type shared with figures such as Neptune and the river gods. He is seated on a rocky pedestal that doubles as the winds’ cave. His hair blown backward and his rippling muscles catching the light, he places a large hand on one of the winds, manipulating it like an instrument; as if in response, the wind puffs out its cheeks. A second wind kneels beneath Aeolus’s foot and grasps the face of a third, shown emerging from or disappearing into the cave.

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