A sculpture of a nude female figure standing with both arms raised above her head.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

The sculpture shows a standing female nude looking down and angled to the left. The knees are slightly bent, both arms are raised above her head with the right arm bent at a ninety-degree angle to her head, fingers pointing up, the left arm reaches straight up, the fingers of her hand outstretched, the palm facing up. Her head is covered with leaves and there are leaves under her right arm.

Gallery Text

Ovid’s Metamorphoses tells of Daphne, a chaste nymph who is pursued by the god Apollo. In order to rescue her, her father, a river god, turns her into a laurel tree. Like many painters and sculptors before her, Sintenis represents the dramatic moment of transformation. The surface of the bronze is roughly textured, more like a tree’s bark than human skin. The upward pull of Daphne’s body is heightened by her raised arms, upturned palms, which are imprinted with vein-like foliage, and her hair, which has become arrow-like leaves. An accomplished Berlin-based sculptor and engraver, Sintenis was best known for small bronzes and terracottas of young animals; Daphne represents a departure from her previous small-scale work. The sculpture was originally commissioned for the garden of the Museum of Art and History in Lübeck, Germany. This is one of four casts.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
BR59.49
People
Renée Sintenis, German (Glatz (now Klodzko, Poland) 1888 - 1965 Berlin, Germany)
Title
Daphne
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture
Date
1930
Culture
German
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/222847

Location

Location
Level 1, Room 1500, Modern and Contemporary Art, Art in Germany Between the Wars
View this object's location on our interactive map

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
143.2 x 31.1 x 27 cm (56 3/8 x 12 1/4 x 10 5/8 in.)
with base: 152.7 x 31.1 x 27 cm (60 1/8 x 12 1/4 x 10 5/8 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: below proper left heel, in artist's hand: RS
  • stamp: below heel, near bottom edge: H NOACK BERLIN

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Private Collection, Hamburg. [Fine Arts Associates, Inc., New York], sold; to Charles and Hetty Kuhn, 1959; Mrs. Hetty S. Kuhn, gift; to the Busch-Reisinger Museum, 1959.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Busch-Reisinger Museum, Gift of Mrs. Charles L. Kuhn
Copyright
© Renée Sintenis / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Germany
Accession Year
1959
Object Number
BR59.49
Division
Modern and Contemporary Art
Contact
am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
dark golden-brown patina

Publication History

  • Charles Werner Haxthausen, The Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard University, Abbeville Press (New York, NY, 1980), p. 80, repr.
  • Kristin A. Mortimer and William G. Klingelhofer, Harvard University Art Museums: A Guide to the Collections, Harvard University Art Museums and Abbeville Press (Cambridge and New York, 1986), no. 354, p. 299, repr.

Exhibition History

  • Works from the 20th Century Collection of the Busch-Reisinger, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 06/15/1980 - 09/01/1980; Wildenstein Gallery, New York, New York, 09/23/1980 - 10/24/1980
  • Making Myth Modern: Primordial Themes in German 20th-Century Sculpture, Harvard University Art Museums, Busch-Reisinger Museum, 07/14/2007 - 12/30/2007
  • Ancient to Modern, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 01/31/2012 - 06/01/2013
  • 32Q: 1500 Art in Germany Between the Wars (Expressionism-Interwar), Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 06/06/2022 - 01/01/2050
  • 32Q: 1510 German Expressionist Sculpture, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 06/06/2022
  • Private Practice, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 10/27/2015 - 01/12/2016

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu