• Author: Lorenzo Bartolini
• Date: 1835
• Collection: SCULPTURE
• Technique: chalk model
• Dimensions: 86 x 124 x 70 cm
• Inventory: Inv. Scult. 1914 n. 1222

The statue portrays a naked young nymph who has just been stung by a scorpion. Her face is contracted in a slight grimace of pain as she checks the wound on her foot.

Lorenzo Bartolini’s Nymph was commissioned by Prince Charles de Beauvau-Craon in 1833 for his castle in Haroué, France. The plaster cast is recorded in the sculptor’s studio as early as 1837, but the marble statue was only exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1845, where it earned the praise of Charles Baudelaire.

The soft, rounded forms of the Nymph recall the painting of Ingres; Bartolini met him during his Parisian stay and they forged a lasting friendship. The simplification of facial features and hair, on the other hand, was inspired by the great models of 15th century Florentine sculpture, such as those of Desiderio da Settignano.

In addition to the sculpture created for the French prince and now preserved at the Louvre, there are other marble versions, including an example commissioned by Tsar Aleksej in 1846 (St. Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum), and two others of smaller sizes (now in Chantilly and private collection).