by Vasile Stefanoiu

Artwork Description

Icarus - the dream of freedom

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Carved © 2021, Artwork dimensions : Height/Width/Depth : 101 x 74 x 37 cm, weight 28 kg. Marble, threaded iron and wood. © Protected by copyright. This is a unique work of art. Icarus, the legend that stands as a testimony to one of man's greatest dreams: that of flying. From childhood dreams to flights over seas and countries in commercial planes, space exploration, or more recently, space tourism, our appetite for air seems unquenchable. But let's go back to ancient times, when the urge to fly was as alive as it is today. Icarus is the son of Daedalus, presented in Greek mythology as an architect and sculptor, who helped build the famous labyrinth of Knossos in which Minos, the ruler of Crete, imprisoned the Minotaur and often brought virgins and lads as sacrifices to calm them down. lust for human flesh. After a while, Daedalus, the village of sacrifices made for the Minotaur, plots with Theseus to kill the monster. As punishment, Minos locks the architect Daedalus and his son, Icarus, in the labyrinth and builds the exit. But the ingenious Daedalus manages to make two pairs of wax and feather wings, for him and his son, who should have saved them. Daedalus taught his son how to fly: "Icarus, floats in the middle, / I advise you, for too low you will go, it is loaded with water / The feathers, if too high, will burn them like the sun" (Ovid, Metamorphoses, the eighth book). Icarus, fascinated by the beauty of flight and heights, gets too close to the Sun. The god Helios, angry that people have discovered the secret of the flight, melts with his heat the wings of Icarus, who collapses in the waters of the Aegean Sea and dies. Icarus is the symbol of the man who tries to surpass himself, but excessive zeal, haste, inexperience and disobedience to parental advice kill his dream. Whatever meaning we choose, the story remains enchanting and in its first, non-plasticized sense, in which the one who exalts Icarus is the dream of freedom, kept under the fragile wings of the dreamer and defended at the cost of his life. With a little imagination we could bring the legend to our times when the dream of freedom was shattered by the Covid virus.

Artwork Details

Medium: Sculpture Various Materials

Genre: Figurative