Faun
A drunken faun dozing half reclined. Sergel made it in Rome, where he was studying ancient sculpture, and later became court sculptor to Gustav III.
An ideal antique body, yet relaxed and sensual – Neoclassicism with a trace of Rococo lightness.
Johan Tobias Sergel was born in Stockholm in 1740. He trained under the French sculptor Pierre Hubert L’Archevêque, who was working in Sweden. In 1767 he travelled to Rome, where he stayed for over ten years. There he studied ancient sculpture and came into contact with the new Neoclassical ideas.
The Faun was carved in marble in Rome around 1774. A faun is a creature from ancient mythology, half human and half animal, with small horns and a tail. Fauns belonged to the retinue of Bacchus, the god of wine, and were associated with intoxication, nature and desire. In ancient art the faun was often an image of the unbridled and natural side of humanity.
The statue shows a young faun lying half stretched out, resting after drinking. His body is relaxed and his head sinks back. He seems to be in a state between sleeping and waking. The muscles are softly modelled and the surface finely polished. The statue is meant to be seen from several sides, and the twist of the body offers new views as you walk around it.
Sergel was inspired by ancient models. In particular the Barberini Faun, a Hellenistic statue then in Rome, has been mentioned as a possible ideal. Sergel, however, made something of his own. His faun is less dramatic and more dreamy, and he combines classical order with a sensuality reminiscent of the Rococo. The movement is calm, and the expression one of quiet enjoyment rather than wildness.
Neoclassicism looked back to antiquity for ideals of beauty and morality. The theorist Johann Joachim Winckelmann, who worked in Rome, spoke of the “noble simplicity and quiet grandeur” of Greek art. Sergel knew these ideas and mixed with other artists in Rome. At the time Rome was a meeting place for artists, collectors and travellers from all over Europe.
The Faun gave Sergel an international reputation. In 1779 Gustav III called him home to Sweden and he became court sculptor. He made portrait busts and monuments, among them the statue of Gustav III at Skeppsbron in Stockholm. He was also a skilful and witty draughtsman, known for his caricatures of himself and those around him. Sergel died in Stockholm in 1814.
The Faun is now in the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm. It is regarded as one of the key works of Swedish sculpture and one of the earliest examples of Neoclassicism in the Nordic countries. Sergel became a central figure in Gustavian cultural life, and his works are among the finest examples of 18th-century Swedish art. His studies in Rome shaped his entire subsequent career. The Faun shows him at his most personal.