GERALD LAING

The Messenger

Catalogue raisonné no. 554

Artist's CR 515

July, 1991

New York

Bronze

Edition of 10

55 x 15.75 x19.75 inches / 0 cm

Literature:
• Gerald Laing, 'CR 515 The Messenger, Bronze 1/10/1991', unpublished manuscript, 1993
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Selected Citations and Comments

The Messenger is a sketch for the uppermost figure on the Axis Mundi group [cat. number 550]. The pose is based on that of Mercury by the Renaissance sculptor Giambologna, who in turned based his famous image on others, now lost, from Greek antiquity. This pose has been used by many artists through the ages, particularly in sculpture, and appears most recently on the cap badge of the Royal Corps of Signals. My figure is, unusually for this pose, female, and in the full scale version, winged, as befits a Wise Virgin in her Apotheosis.

Gerald Laing, 'CR 515 The Messenger, Bronze 1/10/1991', unpublished manuscript, 1993