Chant and Charm
Iconography of Orpheus from Gluck to Moreau
Abstract
In this work we suggest an approach to the iconographic evolution of the Thracian magic singer through the European art of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, searching the echo of the Classic world in the images, as well as new iconic perspectives and the explicit relation of European artists with the treatment of the myth that was given by Rainiero de Calzabigi in the libretto he wrote to be put in music by Christopher Willibald Gluck (represented for the first time in Viena, 1762). Inspired by the texts of Virgil and Ovid that narrate the hero's catabasis to rescue his beloved Euridice, the poet from Livorno contributed most notably to the popularity of an issue that became one of the most recurrent Classic themes of the period we have analyzed.
Downloads
Article download
Crossmark
License
In order to support the global exchange of knowledge, the journal Eikon Imago is allowing unrestricted access to its content as from its publication in this electronic edition, and as such it is an open-access journal. The originals published in this journal are the property of the Complutense University of Madrid and any reproduction thereof in full or in part must cite the source. All content is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 use and distribution licence (CC BY 4.0). This circumstance must be expressly stated in these terms where necessary. You can view the summary and the complete legal text of the licence.
