Thebe Seated

Three statues created by the sculptor who is best-known in this country, Giacomo Manzù (1908–1991), which he himself donated to the museum in 1987, make up a single cycle devoted to the model named Thebe – ‘Thebe Seated’ and ‘Thebe Falling’ (both 1983), ‘Thebe Dressed’ (1985). For two of the works the sculptor chose a strict traditional composition emphasized by the seated young woman’s straightforward poses. As if to demonstrate his skills, he produced the figure of a naked Thebe treated in a markedly experimental manner displayed alongside. She is shown falling from a chair and captured in a random pose with outspread arms. This statue, which breaches all the rules of classic sculpture, remains just an episode within the diverse oeuvre of Manzù, who created a bronze door for St Peter’s Basilica in Rome.