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Connections: Touch

Curator of European sculpture and decorative arts Ian Wardropper on the profound relationship between touch and sculpture.
5 min. watch

"We don't let people touch for good reason, but it fascinates me what that means."

Curator of European sculpture and decorative arts Ian Wardropper on the profound relationship between touch and sculpture.

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Art Mentioned

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Pope Innocent X, Alessandro Algardi Italian, Bronze, on a later plinth, Italian, Rome
Pope Innocent X
After a composition by Alessandro Algardi
ca. 1690
The Intoxication of Wine, Clodion (Claude Michel) French, Terracotta, French, Paris
The Intoxication of Wine
Clodion (Claude Michel)
ca. 1780–90
Saint Sebastian, Alessandro Vittoria (Alessandro Vittoria di Vigilio della Volpa) Italian, Bronze, Italian, Venice
Saint Sebastian
Alessandro Vittoria (Alessandro Vittoria di Vigilio della Volpa)
1566
Paris, Antico (Pier Jacopo Alari Bonacolsi) Italian, Bronze, partially fire-gilt, silver inlay, Italian, Mantua
Paris
Antico (Pier Jacopo Alari Bonacolsi)
ca. 1518–1524
Bacchanal: A Faun Teased by Children, Gian Lorenzo Bernini Italian, Marble, Italian, Rome
Bacchanal: A Faun Teased by Children
Gian Lorenzo Bernini
and Pietro Bernini
ca. 1616–17
Alexander Danilovich Menshikov (1673–1729), Unknown Artist, Swiss, Austrian, or German, active Russia ca. 1703–4, Red pine (pinus sylvestris), with wrought-iron clips, Russian, St. Petersburg
Alexander Danilovich Menshikov (1673–1729)
Unknown
probably shortly before 1704
Wine cooler (one of a pair), Ignaz Joseph Würth Austrian, Silver, Austrian, Vienna
Wine cooler (one of a pair)
Ignaz Joseph Würth
marked 1781
Marsyas, Balthasar Permoser German, Marble on a black marble socle inlaid with light marble panels, German, executed Rome or Florence
Marsyas
Balthasar Permoser
ca. 1680–85
Cabinet with personifications of the Five Senses, Satin worked with silk and metal thread, purl, chenille, seed pearls, coral beads, and mica; tent, knots, rococo, satin, couching, and detached buttonhole stitches; woven metal thread trim; silk and paper lining; wood frame; turned wooden feet, British
Cabinet with personifications of the Five Senses
British
third quarter 17th century
Belisarius and His Guide, Antoine Denis Chaudet French, Bronze, mounted in a bronze circlet with floral ornament painted to resemble gilt bronze, into which is fitted the original rotating mechanism, French, Paris
Belisarius and His Guide
Antoine Denis Chaudet
1794
Rothschild lamp, Andrea Briosco, called Riccio Italian, Bronze, on a later wood base, Italian, Padua
Rothschild lamp
Andrea Briosco, called Riccio
ca. 1510–20
A Hypocrite and a Slanderer, Franz Xaver Messerschmidt German, Tin alloy, Austrian, probably Pressburg (Bratislava)
A Hypocrite and a Slanderer
Franz Xaver Messerschmidt
ca. 1770–83
Pair of eyes, Bronze, marble, frit, quartz, obsidian, Greek
Pair of eyes
Greek
5th century BCE or later
Pygmalion and Galatea, Jean-Léon Gérôme French, Oil on canvas
Pygmalion and Galatea
Jean-Léon Gérôme
ca. 1890
Torso of a Ptolemaic King, inscribed with cartouches of a late Ptolemy, Basalt
Restituted
Torso of a Ptolemaic King, inscribed with cartouches of a late Ptolemy
80–30 B.C.