Bellerophon and Pegasus
1790–1844
Medium
Pen and brown ink, brown wash, over black chalk or graphite
Dimensions
Sheet: 6 5/8 × 4 15/16 in. (16.8 × 12.6 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harry G. Sperling Fund, 2013
Accession Number
2013.555
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the Drawings and Prints department of the Museum of Art, Bert Thorvaldsen's *Bellerophon and Pegasus* (. 1790–1844) captures a dynamic moment from Greek mythology. The Danish neoclassical sculptor depicts the hero Bellerophon, nude and poised triumphantly astride the winged horse Pegasus, symbolizing human mastery over the divine. Thorvaldsen, a figure of Neoclassicism who spent much of his career in Rome drew inspiration from ancient Greek and Roman art, reviving their ideals of heroic proportion and idealized anatomy during the late Enlightenment era. Executed in pen and brown ink with b...
About the Artist
Bertel Thorvaldsen · 1770–1844
Danish sculptor. Comment on works: sculptor