ART.
“At Venus’ entreaty for Cupid, her son,
These arrows by Vulcan are cunningly done.
The first is Love, as here you may behold,
His feathers, head and body are of gold,
The second shaft is Hate, a foe to Love,
And bitter are his torments for to prove;
The third is Hope, from which our comfort springs,
His feathers they are pulled from fortune’s wings;
Fourth, Jealousy in basest minds doth dwell:
His metal Vulcan’s Cyclops sent from Hell.”
—Peake.
Thorwaldsen’s favorite branch of sculpture was bas relief, in which he excelled. One of his numerous works in this department shows Vulcan forging arrows for Cupid. He is represented as an aged man hammering at his forge and indicating by his attitude the lameness with which, according to the myth, he was afflicted, but with such delicacy as in no wise to detract from the god-like dignity of his figure.
Perseus.
“Child of the Morning.”
“For now behind her unseen, Perseus passed,
And silently whirled the great sword round;
And when it fell, she fell upon the ground,
And felt no more of all her bitter pain.”
—Wm. Morris.
STORY.
THE SLAYING OF THE GORGON.
Perseus was sent by the tyrant, Polydictes, to attempt the conquest of the Gorgon, Medusa, a terrible monster, whose hair was hissing, writhing snakes, and who possessed petrifying power sufficient to turn all beholders into stone.
Perseus, favored by the gods and well equipped by them, sought the home of the Gorgons. He was rendered invisible by Pluto’s helmet, and drew near without detection. Minerva had loaned him her mirror-like shield and, watching in it the reflected form of Medusa, he severed her head and seizing it, bore it swiftly away to Polydictes, who, upon beholding it, turned to stone.