Borsheim's Art of the Human Form

Tribute to Pio Fedi, Italia

20" h X 40"
Oil on Canvas
© 2005
Kelly Borsheim

Available

[Pio Fedi man in the moon, Polissena sculpture]

This page features a tribute to Italian sculptor Pio Fedi who created a four figure composition in marble titled "Pirro che rapisce Polissena". I have seen the English translation of this title to be either "The Rape of Polyxena" (il ratto di Polissena) or "The Abduction of Polyxena". The sculpture is on display in the Loggia dei Lanzi in Firenze, Italia, in front of the Uffizi Gallery (Galleria degli Ufizzi).

Pio Fedi was an Italian sculptor (born in Viterbo in 1816; died in Firenze in 1892). The marble (marmo) sculpture "Pirro che rapisce Polissena" was created in the years 1860-1865. (This information is what I recorded from the sign in the Loggia dei Lanzi, where the sculpture is displayed. The Loggia faces Piazza della Signoria.)

Pirro che rapisce Polissena

This sculpture depicts four figures in various phases of struggle. The dominant figure is Pirro (Pyrrhus, also called Neoptolemus is the son of the famous Achilles). Pirro, wanting revenge for his father's death, is abducting Polyxena (the translated spelling of Polissena), the youngest daughter of the Trojan King Priam and Queen Hecuba, so that he may cut her throat over the grave of Achilles. The other figures portrayed are Polissena's pleaing mother Hecuba and her defeated brother Polites.

There are a few conflicting stories about the relationship between Achilles and Polyxena. But by all accounts that I discovered, the Greek Achilles was in love with the Trojan Polyxena and his love for her caused his demise.

My painting "Tribute to Pio Fedi" shows the slain Polites alone, his body in front of what might perhaps be seen as a full moon. I was drawn to this figure for many reasons, but mostly for the lovely curve of the inside front of the pelvic basin.

Images of Firenze, Italia

Above, from Pio Fedi's marble sculpture: The image on the left is Pirro looking down with scorn upon Hecuba. To the right, you see a detail shot of Polites' face. I hope you see the tears sculpted falling from his eye.

[Firenze, Florence, Mime] [Firenze, Florence, Galleria della Uffizi]

Above: A street performing mime entertained the crowds by interacting with those walking by. Behind him, in the top row of spectators, you will see a man with a blue shirt standing next to a man wearing an orange shirt. Behind this pair stands Pio Fedi's marble composition "Pirro che rapisce Polissena".

[Firenze, Italia, Florence, Italy]

No, this ambulance is NOT holding up a huge bronze monument -- but I enjoyed the idea. This photo is taken in the Piazza della Signoria. The Loggia dei Lanzi is in the background, to the right. The image on the right was taken in front of the Galleria degli Uffizi.

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Kelly Borsheim
Borsheim Arts Studio
P. O. Box 340
Cedar Creek, Texas 78612
(512) 303-3929
www.borsheimarts.com