Daphnis and Chloe
Clark Art Institute
Williamstown, MA
N 42° 42.483 W 073° 12.901
Short Description:
Daphnis and Chloe are the protagonist of an ancient Greek novel written in the second-century AD by Greek novelist Longus. The sculpture is on permanent display at the Clark Art Institute at 225 South Street, Williamstown, MA.
Long Description:
Daphnis and Chloe is a 55" by 29" by 22" marble sculpture created in 1874 by French artist Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux. The assertion in the novel by the Greek writer Longus is: “no one has ever escaped love, nor ever shall, so long as beauty exists and eyes can see.”
Both Daphnis and Chloe were abandoned and left to die by their parents at birth. They were separately rescued and raised by shepherds. Being naive, they fall in love but do not understand what is happening to them. The shepherds are of no help. After a series of misadventures they find their birth parents and marry, happily.
A sign near the sculpture is inscribed:
Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux
French, 1827-1875
Daphnis and Chloe
1874
Marble
Daphnis caresses Chloe’s neck, tenderly leaning
toward her as if to whisper in her ear or brush her
cheek with his lips. Carpeaux became famous, even
notorious, for his dynamic sculptural compositions,
which some of his contemporaries considered
indecent. This marble group was inspired by Longus’s
Daphnis and Chloe, an ancient Greek narrative that
asserts: “no one has ever escaped love, nor ever shall,
so long as beauty exists and eyes can see.”
Acquired by the Clark 2013
2013.5
