Object Details

Arethusa

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Makers
General Information
Classification
Object Parts
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Author: Anthony McIntosh
Copyright for Photograph:

Creative Commons

Location

Street:Church Street / A283
Town:Petworth
Parish:Petworth
Council:Chichester District Council
County:West Sussex
Postcode:GU28
Location on Google Map
Object setting:Inside building
Access is:Public
Location note:Petworth House, The North Gallery, Central Corridor
In the AZ book:West Sussex
Page:61
Grid reference:N9
The A-Z books used are A-Z East Sussex and A-Z West Sussex (Editions 1A 2005). Geographers' A-Z Map Company Ltd. Sevenoaks.

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Makers

Name : John Edward Carew

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General Information

Commissioned by: George O’Brien Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont (1751-1837)
Construction period:1824
Installation date:1824
Work is:Extant
Owner custodian:The National Trust (Petworth House)
Description:A statue of Arethusa wearing a thin, draped shift-like garment. Her head is turned to the right as if listening. Her right arm and fingers are raised. A greyhound stands to her left side and her left hand rests on its head.
Iconographical description:Arethusa, according to Ovid (Metamorphoses 5: 572-641) was a nymph who was transformed into a stream by the goddess Diana, thus protecting her from the amorous advances of a river god. Here Carew depicts her with a greyhound (without classical authority) as a companion to Diana.
Signatures:Signature to left of the base near the dog’s hind legs:
J.E. CAREW. 1824.

Carved catalogue number on base '103'

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Classification

Categories:Sculptural, Free Standing, Animal
Object type1:Statue
Object type2:Sculpture
Subject type1:Figurative
     Subject subtype1:Group
Subject type2:Mythological
     Subject subtype1:Standing

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Object Parts

Part 1:Statue
     Material:White marble
     Height (cm):140
     Width (cm):57
     Depth (cm):60
Part 2:Circular pedestal
     Material:Wood (faux red veined marble)
     Height (cm):100
     Width (cm):67
     Depth (cm):67

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Object Condition

Overall condition:Good
Risk assessment:No known risk
Condition 1 of type:Structural
     Condition 1: Broken or missing parts
     More details:Fingers of the right hand all broken and previously repaired.
Date of on-site inspection:27/06/2008

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History

History:The North Gallery is one of the very few top-lit sculpture and picture galleries to survive from the early nineteenth century. It was extensively restored in 1991-3. The South corridor is the earliest part of the gallery, which was built between 1754 and 1763 to house the major part of the 2nd. Earl’s collection of antiques statuary. The top-lit Central Corridor was added to the gallery by the 3rd. Earl in 1824-5. At the same time work began on the final extension to the gallery, the Square Bay and the whole was finished in October 1827. The works were supervised by Thomas Upton, the Petworth Clerk of Works, and executed by his building yard. Advice was sought from at least three artists; the painter Thomas Philips and the sculptors Sir Francis Chantrey and John Edward Carew. The galleries are presently painted a dark red, restored to this colour during the 1991-3 restorations. The galleries had been this colour in 1873. Red (with green, the most traditional colour for picture galleries) was felt by Ruskin to accentuate the contours of sculpture, and it was known to have been used in ancient Rome as a foil to sculpture. The present sculpture arrangement (devised in 1991-3) was designed to restore, as far as possible that conceived by the 3rd. Earl. It was taken from a unique ground plan of the 3rd. Earl’s statue deployment drawn up in 1835 by H.W. Philips. Apart from the Flaxman, the Square Bay has become a gallery of works by the Irish sculptor J.E. Carew, many of which were placed here in 1835

This is the first work by Carew to be acquired by the 3rd Earl, directly from Carew's London studio in 1823 whilst he was still working for Sir Richard Westmacott.

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References

Source 1 :
     Title:'Petworth House'
     Type:Book
     Author:Rowell, Christopher
     Publisher:The National Trust.


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Photographs





Author: Anthony McIntosh
Copyright: Creative Commons




Author: Anthony McIntosh
Copyright: Creative Commons




Author: Anthony McIntosh
Copyright: Creative Commons




Author: Anthony McIntosh
Copyright: Creative Commons

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