Focus on Jason with the Golden Fleece (Thorvaldsen) and analyze the Danish Culture Canon.
In the first decade of the 21st century, the work was included in the semi-official Danish Culture Canon. In selecting the work, the Culture Canon committee commented on Thorvaldsen's white, sharp, intense and rhythmic lines, evoking a distant, heroic figure. At the time Thorvaldsen created the statue, Denmark was evolving from absolute monarchy into a period of liberalism revolving around the individual citizen's view of the world. Similarly, the sculptor brings his monumental works down to an individual level. His first model of the statue (in clay) was completed in 1803. The marble version followed in 1828.In the statue, Jason appears to be frozen somewhere between rest and movement. The fight is won and he is returning home with his prey over his arm. Expressing both physical and mental calm, he is the prototype of the classical hero. The sculpture is fully balanced: no matter where your eyes fall, you can find a corresponding element. For example, the lance is reflected in the chest strap, the fleece in tree stump. and the curled tip of the helmet in the horns of the ram.
Danish Culture Canon sculpture Jason