“The Knight Raymondin and the Fairy Mélusine” – Jean Dampt (1895)
Steel, ivory, gold
I thought this was so beautiful that I researched it a bit, and it's fascinating. Unfortunately it's held in a private collection, so no chance to see it in person. But what really shocked me was that all of that exquisite detail across those diverse mediums is only 25 cm tall!
Also, it was apparently so meaningful to Dampt that his good friend Pascal Adolphe Jean Dagnan-Bouveret painted a portrait of Dampt holding this statue.
Below is a color photo that really shows the materials, and one of the aforementioned painting.
The subject matter itself is also fascinating. The figures in the statue are from a medieval tragedy wherein the fairy is ultimately transformed into a dragon as a direct result of jealousy, murder, and betrayal, not entirely unlike Othello. Moreover, a French aristocratic family actually claimed to be the direct descendants of these tragic lovers!
Jean Dampt holding Le Chevalier Raymondin et La Fée Mélusine" by Pascal Adolphe Jean Dagnan-Bouveret
oil on panel with a gold background
