Foto af græsk metoperelief forestillende "Hera blotter sig for Zeus" 1913 - 1914

This is a photograph of a Greek metope relief, made by J.A. Jerichau (II), sometime between 1890 and 1916. What strikes me is the tension between the stillness of the stone and the dynamism of the scene, Hera seemingly lifting her veil, the powerful Zeus reclining. The photograph captures the texture of the stone so well; you can almost feel the grit and the roughhewn marks of the sculptor’s tools. Look at the folds of Hera’s drapery, so meticulously carved. Or the way Zeus’s muscles ripple beneath his skin. Each mark seems to carry a story, a sense of the artist’s hand shaping the stone, breath by breath. The photograph itself becomes a kind of sculptural object, a record of both the original artwork and Jerichau’s own creative process. It makes you think about how we see and interpret the art of the past, filtered through layers of time, history, and imagination. Like Cy Twombly perhaps, Jerichau invites us to engage with classical forms in a way that feels both reverent and totally alive.