The Rescue of Andromeda

This cast of a bronze bas-relief formed a significant part of Benvenuto Cellini's Perseus and Medusa, the sculptural ensemble that has occupied the east arcade of the Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence's Piazza dell aSignoria since it was unveiled in 1554. The depiction of Perseus Liberating Andromeda was Celeni's final cotribution to his public masterwork and may be considered the finishing touch to monumental statuary group supported by an elaborate base or pedestal. The relief was not cast until 1552, whereas Medusa and the colossal Perseus were cast in June of 1548 and during the winter of 1549, respctively. Although Perseus and Medusa's white marble base was designed but not actually carved by Celleini, the smaller bronze statues in its four niches are entirely his work, and date to April of 1552. Like an open book, the relief's narrative splits down the middle into different pages, which, despite the semblance of unity, refer to two chronolagically distinct but contiguous Ovidian passages. First, on the left-hand side, Perseus plunges earthward to save Andromeda from the monster as, on the facing side, the anger of her fiance and his men gathers momentum, heralding the battle to come. The relief's later date, bookish character and differing form (relief) and genre (narrative) suggest that it functions as a commentary or gloss on the Perseus, one analogous to that afforded by Cellini's autobiography, the Vita (1558-66) or his treatises on the arts, the Trattati (1565-67). The expansion of Cellini's artistic practice into the literary domains of narration and art theory is symptomatic of the phase of his career following the completion of his major work of sculpture, the Perseus and Medusa.这件青铜浅浮雕（bronze bas-relief）铸件是本韦努托·切利尼（Benvenuto Cellini）《珀尔修斯与美杜莎》（Perseus and Medusa）的重要组成部分，该雕塑群自1554年揭幕以来，便一直陈列于佛罗伦萨领主广场（Piazza della Signoria）的兰齐敞廊（Loggia dei Lanzi）东侧拱廊之下。《珀尔修斯解救安德洛墨达》的浮雕创作，是切利尼为这件公共传世杰作贡献的最后一环，亦可视为这座依托精致基座的纪念性雕塑群的点睛之笔。这件浅浮雕直至1552年才完成铸造，而美杜莎与巨型珀尔修斯像则分别于1548年6月和1549年冬季浇铸成型。尽管《珀尔修斯与美杜莎》的白色大理石基座由切利尼设计，却并未由他亲自雕刻，但基座四个壁龛内的小型青铜雕像均出自他之手，创作时间为1552年4月。 如同摊开的书卷，这件浮雕的叙事内容从中轴线处被分为两个“篇章”：尽管视觉上呈现出统一的整体，却对应奥维德（Ovid）笔下两段时间线不同却前后衔接的文本段落。首先在左侧画面中，珀尔修斯俯冲而下，从海怪手中救下安德洛墨达；而在对侧画面中，安德洛墨达的未婚夫及其部下的怒火渐盛，预示着即将到来的战斗。这件浮雕的创作时间较晚，兼具书卷化的叙事特质，且在形式（浮雕）与体裁（叙事类）上均与主体雕塑有所区别，这一切都表明它是对《珀尔修斯与美杜莎》的注解或阐释，其作用类似于切利尼的自传《生平》（Vita，1558-1566）以及艺术论著《艺术随笔》（Trattati，1565-1567）所起到的补充说明效果。切利尼将其艺术创作拓展至叙事与艺术理论的文学领域，这一现象正是其在完成雕塑代表作《珀尔修斯与美杜莎》后职业生涯新阶段的典型特征。