Thyrsis

Havard Thomas trained in Paris and then in 1889 moved to Italy, where he lived for seventeen years. In 1905 he sent a male nude 'Lycidas' to the Royal Academy, where its rejection caused a scandal. In 1912 Havard Thomas returned to the theme with 'Thyrsis'. The title comes from the poem of 1866 by Matthew Arnold of that name, and Arnold's poem had itself been based on Milton's 'Lycidas' (1637). Thyrsis was an ancient Greek shepherd. Arnold chose to commemorate a friend from Oxford in this pastoral character. The shepherd's pipe was for Arnold a symbol of his own youth, and Havard Thomas's figure itself commemorates Italy and classical art. Another version is on public display at The Tate Britain, this was scanned at a Sotheby's auction in 2017.   This object is part of Scan The World. Scan the World is a non-profit initiative introduced by MyMiniFactory, through which we are creating a digital archive of fully 3D printable sculptures, artworks and landmarks from across the globe for the public to access for free. Scan the World is an open source, community effort, if you have interesting items around you and would like to contribute, email [e-mail] to find out how you can help.