IL PERSEO di Cellini

Speranza

THE MODEL.

The PERSEO, in the form in which we first encounter him in the model is representationally too literal.

The wax was evidently made from a boy standing in the studio, and exhales a sense of playfulness and innocence.

The well-muscled body is beautifully rendered, but the EXPRESSION of the RATHER EFFEMINATE face, under a mane of CURLY HAIR, suggets part amusement and part curiosity.

When in the BRONZE model, Perseo's pose was corrected so that the body NO LONGER leaned slightly forward, but was set on a true vertical, the expression was no more than slightly modified.

The expression did become less intimate, but HEROISM was still out of reach.