The statue and me
As most readers here are well aware, I’m a person who likes privacy. So I suppose it’s odd that I’ve put myself out there as a blogger. Of course, I’ve hidden behind that apple.
Every now and then I’ve posted a photo of myself, but always when young – either as a child or young woman. So don’t imagine that I look like that today. Time and tide …
But despite my need for privacy I couldn’t resist posting these comparison photos. The first is of a nineteenth-century sculpture at the Met called “Nydia, the Blind Flower Girl of Pompeii“:
“Nydia, the Blind Flower Girl of Pompeii” was the most popular American sculpture of the nineteenth century. According to Rogers, it was replicated 167 times in two sizes. The subject was drawn from “The Last Days of Pompeii” (1834), a widely read novel by Lord Edward Bulwer-Lytton, which ends with the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in a.d. 79. Rogers’s evocative portrayal of Nydia highlights her heroic attempt to lead two companions out of the burning, ash-covered city. Her closed eyes and staff allude to her blindness, while the hand raised to her ear refers to her acute sense of hearing. The destruction of Pompeii is symbolized by the broken Corinthian capital beside her right foot.
I’d never heard of the sculpture before, but I saw the following photo of it recently. The profile reminds me somewhat of ancient Greek statues. It caught my eye for a reason I think you’ll see:
The statue looked familiar although I’d never seen it before. But this is why. Here I am in my mid-twenties, dressed for the wedding of a friend:
Spitting image!
fascinating,
After staring long on the two images (pardon my shamelessness) I have decided your jaw is not as square as hers. Not that there’s anything wrong with that! I mean, I like your photo.
True beauty! …both your photo and the sculpture.
It’s been several years since I visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art, but it is one of my favorite museums in the world! I especially like the American Wing.
The American Wing is home to Nydia along with some other great beauties like; The Vine, Fragelina, and Evening. The Vine being my personal favorite….so full of life and energy.
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/487583
HAH! I’ve been taking drawing classes at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston for the last year. A class is usually an hour in the classroom and then an hour and a half in the galleries drawing something from the collection. I’ve spent several hours this year drawing the stunning Nydia. She’s beautiful, but quite subtle to capture.
You can find her in the Art of the Americas, gallery 233. The accession number is 1973.617 which you can use to find her in MFA’s online catalog.
No wonder he adored you and he still longs for you this Easter Eve.
Lovely! But we already knew, Neo, that you were a beauty, from that picture of you with a boyfriend that you posted some months (?) ago.
My mom bought a copy of Thomas Sully’s “Boy With Torn Hat” (1820) at a yard sale because it looks exactly like I did at that age. It hung on the dining room wall for many years.
Grecian profile. Well semi at the least. Sure you are not related to Elvis?
By the way, you have a better lower face lip-to-chin than the statue which is kind of Betty Boopish.
Have a good Easter, all.
The loveliness of youth, well-presented and illustrated by analogy with a neo-classical statue. The uncanny likeness emphasises the sweet lines and outlines of your face, not to mention your discretely inviting décolletage.
You really ought to take these digital or digitalised images and have (easy to arrange online) a framing made for this pleasant discovery. And post it up either in you bathroom or entryway. Let guest’s gaze and ponder, as you invite a charming guess!
The wonders of the gift of youth. Embrace it. And share it, please!
DNW:
Elvis’ profile always seemed puzzlingly familiar to me.
I believe Keats had something to say about this… (no, not Elvis…)
https://poets.org/poem/ode-grecian-urn
Very classical.
I ran into my doppelganger once. Shocked the holy hell out of both of us. No relation whatsoever.
Odd, seems so, but even hermitesses and hermits blog.
Statue’s neck area seems droopy or fat – certainly lacks your jawline tho…
Ah, no wonder Gerard fell for.
Nydia was a bit less modest, apparently.
@Batemo:
LOL! Well, Nydia was fleeing from a burning city, so I think we can forgive her dress falling down around her elbows. Plus, her distress/undress probably helped the statue’s popularity, especially with male viewers. 😉
What a beautiful woman
This is how Penelope looked, awaiting the return of her husband from the Trojan War.
I agree that Neo’s profile is more attractive (but I don’t like the two-tone effect in her picture).
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Not Acceptable!
This is not acceptable to me. I think it’s damned rude!
Cue Rod Serling, and a mysterious artifact found at a junk store…
JWM
Dax:
It wasn’t 2-tone originally, but the colors of the photo faded over time. Sigh
The Not Acceptable
response to a submitted coment occurs to me as well. I just turn off my VPN and then resubmit the coment. That seems to work, I then turn the VPN back on. More often than not coments made with the VPN on are not flagged as “Not Acceptable.”
I vaguely remember this adaptation of the material
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEpAooJz_oY
One of my grand-daughters was here today for Easter, and looks amazingly like the statue & Neo, kind of in-between the two.
Pretty sure we’re not related to either one!
Day by Day had a cartoon for those who Looked Down on the poor blind Nydia whilst she struggled during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
The neck, shoulders, and arms of a ballerina.
I suspect most statues and paintings which show the beauty of women’s breasts are more a reflection of the artist’s imagination, than accurate portrayals of what the artist actually saw, at the time. Here with Nydia, but also in France.
Many artists certainly saw the models for their partially nude art in the entirety of their lovely birthday suits. Bare is how we’re all born, so there is something more primal about bare breasts, and those bared. (Not so much bear breasts, tho.)
I was hoping Neo would give up on the apple altogether this year, but now I’m hoping her photo comes out when she finishes Girard’s book and gets it published. (hint hint) But it does reduce privacy.