Saturday, September 02, 2006

If I had a hammer...


I took this shot outside the Grand Palais, but I have no idea who made this statue. I think it's really impressive though. What on earth is he planning to do with this hammer?!

25 comments:

  1. Maybe it's a sculpture carving his own fiancée...
    Or he is just releasing her from the wall!

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  2. Nice shot! He is porbably showing off to the lady that he can build things.

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  3. I don't think it's a hammer! ;-)

    Bang-Bang Maxwell's silver hammer came down upon her heaaaaaaaaaad! LOL! Maybe he's trying to tell her he has a pounding headache!

    Or he needs to pound the chicken cutlets really thin for her Chicken Picata recipe!

    OK, I'll stop now! Nice shot BTW--were you up high or did you zoom?!
    (=

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  4. Ok, I'm going to take a guess Eric.

    Is it perhaps a statue depicting the Greek god Hephaestus?
    The only problem is Hephaestus was the god of fire and metalworking and this doesn't seem to indicate that.

    Another thing is that the hammer is widely seen as a symbol of thunder in Greek mythology.

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  5. Good question. A statue that looks just like this statue?

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  6. Michael, you really surprised pleasantly with your knowledge upon the greek mythology!
    Hephaestus was also the ugliest god of all!
    Meybe the artist wanted to give emphasis by using two contradictory symbols such as the young with the hammer (who, in my opinion, symbolizes a laborer) and ythe oung lady (who symbolizes the love).

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  7. Well, if Michael's right about a hammer sybolizing thunder, perhaps this is Zeus and "Haira" ;^)

    It reminds me of that painting of the sculptor and the partially finished statue that bends to kiss him.

    Composition and colors in this shot!
    -Kim

    PS- It's 11:50 PM Sept 1, and I just finished viewing the 46th theme day post--they were wonderful. I was exclaiming "here's the last one" to my husband, and he said,"So, that's the last door post?" Ugh! :-)

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  8. But Kim, I think Zeus always had a beard when depicted, no?

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  9. michael; i found this if it helps:


    "Hephaestus also created the first woman, Pandora, at the command of Zeus, in retaliation for the various tricks by which the Titan Prometheus had benefited mortal men at the expense of the gods. Pandora was given to the Titan's brother, Epimetheus, as his wife. For her dowry she brought a jar filled with evils from which she removed the lid, thereby afflicting men for the first time with hard work and sickness. Only hope remained inside the jar."

    maybe this is a carving of Hephaestus creating the first woman?

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  10. Hmmmm Michael looks like he majored in Greek Mythology or something! Such in depth knowledge! I think I would have to agree with him ;)

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  11. I can see hammer is the power, and the man is giving it to the woman.
    Perhaps it's time that women lead the world.

    Greetings from Perú

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  12. Now let's not get carried away Irredento Urbanita !

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  13. They couldn't do any worse, Irredento Urbanita!
    Hello to you in Peru!

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  14. Ujima, I hope you know I was just kidding ;-)

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  15. Pygmalion and Galatea, I presume....

    Lili

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  16. There must be an expert on statues of Paris. I would like to know the real info on this work of art. Perhaps an art history professor at one of the exalted universities would know.

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  17. yeah, my first impression is that he is creating his ideal woman. or maybe i have just become slightly disillusioned as a single woman approaching the age of 30!

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  18. I've sent a couple notes to people at the Grand Palais and Culture minister to see if I get a response. Who knows! But, I do agree, it does looks like Pygmalion and Galatea to me.

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  19. I knew that you were kidding, Michael.

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  20. Michael, I just looked up the painting this reminded me of, and it is Pygmalion for sure.
    -Kim

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  21. Anonymous and Kim, I think we have to deduct that it is Pygmalion and Galatea. I haven't heard back from anyone at the culture minister, but if I do, I'll post back here.

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  22. UPDATE 7 Sept 2006:

    I had a response from the Communications Director at the EMOC (Établissement public de maîtrise d'ouvrage des travaux culturels) who states that it is called "La Révélation artistique" by Paul Grasq (1860-1944), and apparently not Pygmalion and Galatea.

    Now, all that being said, I have searched all over the web to try and find this guy and sculpture to no avail. Maybe one of you will have more luck than I.

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  23. What great fun. Hope someone finds out even more. And aren't we all learning so much!?

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  24. In fact Eric, after some more detailed checking, the sculptor in your photos a few days ago is Paul Gasq, not Grasq as previously noted. I can find information about him on the web, but not this particular sculpture. I guess you'll have to go back and take another photo!

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