Satyr, Clodion

This piece by Claude Michel Clodion is titled Nymph and Satyr Carousing. While Clodion's commissions for larger statues are also acknowledged as great work, he is most famous for small terracota pieces like this one. His style is an interesting blend: he is of the Neoclassical and occasionally the Roccoco persuasion but his subject matter is usually pulled from antiquity. This sculpture testifies to this blend of characteristics. The bodies of these two subjects are most striking because of the capture of their absolute abandon in their actions. The movement and the emotion of complete logical surrender behind it is evident in their faces and their limbs. It is an interesting scene as well because of the form of the satyr-half goat and half man. The musculature of the man is harnessed in the terracotta extremely accurately while the extended goat hoof contrasts playfully with the delicate foot of the woman while still be accurate to a real goat itself.