The Sleeping Hermaphrodite

At first glance The Sleeping Hermaphrodite is a marble statue of a nude woman that appears to be sleeping on a bed. However, once one examines the statue more closely it becomes known that this woman has male genitals as well. This is shocking only because every other part of the statue looks feminine including her hair, hips, bottom and breasts. Other than the cloth wrapping around her legs and arms, the statue is nude and in a slightly odd position. While she wears a comfortable, blissful expression on her face as if she were sleeping peacefully, her legs are slightly lifted which shows discomfort. The figure is extremely realistic throughout the curves of the woman's body and the attention to detail with the muscles along the back. The body
proportions are also accurate. The hair appears to be naturally falling and full of detail as well. The most elaborate part of the statue is the sheet and how it wraps around the woman's body; for example, the most detailed portion is where it wraps around her arms and looks as if the material actually being pulled against the arm. This detail happens once again at along her right foot. The pulling against the sheets also shows the discomfort mentioned previously. Another interesting part of this statue is the bed, and the fact that is was sculpted later after the statue. Even though it was sculpted separately the bed looks as if it were meant to be part of the sculpture and within the same time period as well. It is extremely detailed and realistic like the sculpture. All the characteristics of this statue is what makes it appear to be Hellenistic.
In Greek mythology there is a story that tells how Hermaphrodite came to be. According to Christine Kondoleon, the Exhibition Curator at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, a water nymph, Salmacis, fell in love with Hermaphroditus who was the male child of Aphrodite and Hermes. Salmacis prayed to the gods to be together forever and for them to never part. A god listened to her wish and combined them into a new being that had female breasts and male genitals.
A bronze sculpture indicates it was made by the Greeks.
Typically, Greek sculptures were focused on their gods. The Veiled and Masked Dancer is a bronze sculpture of a fully clothed woman who is not a god, which showed that there were more to the Greeks than just their gods and myths. The movement perceived in this sculpture indicates that the woman was a dancer, most likely a professional entertainer. It is different from most Greek statues because it gives the viewer a glimpse of what life was like for them during that time period. The material is what makes the statue so interesting, mostly because of how naturally and complexively it falls around the woman making it appear realistic. Also, the woman shows movement through the positioning of her arms and legs. Even more so because it guides the material she is wearing and enables several layers of it to be seen. Also, certain parts of her body pull the material; for example, the arm she holds up pulls the material in a way that allows the rest of it to fall loosely and create interesting, realistic curves throughout the rest of the material. Another aspect of the woman is how the material clings to her hair in an updo and once again clings to her hand, showing the specific details of her fingers. The only part of the woman that is not covered is her eyes. Starting around her hairline one can see the material of the veil begin and continue down the rest of her body. In spite of the fact only her eyes can be seen, the woman
looks like she could be wearing a focused yet dazed expression. It is almost as if she is paying close attention to something while also having her mind elsewhere. This expression would be accurate for a dancer since she could be focusing on her dancing while putting her mind someplace else to create a mood, or setting for the way she moves. A foot also peeks out from under all of the material. It gives the impression of being her right foot since it seems like the outline of her leg and hip tug against the drapery. Additionally, she seems to be wearing what looks like a lace shoe.
The most obvious difference between the two statues is that one of them is completely nude while the other is completely covered in a material.
Even so, movement is still expressed by both women and the curves of their bodies are still shown too. As mentioned previously, the Sleeping Hermaphrodite shows movement with her legs and arms by pulling against the blanket. Similarly, the Veiled and Masked Dancer shows movement with her legs, arms and the twist of her body as well since they pull against the material she is wearing. The Sleeping Hermaphrodite has more evident curves since she is nude. However, though the Veiled and Masked Dancer is fully clothed one can still detect she is a woman because her curves are shown when the material seems to be slightly hugging her body. Most viewers will focus on how the sculptor defined certain areas of the Hermaphrodite's body, such as her back muscles, shoulder blades, the slight wrinkles along her stomach, around her bottom, and along the bottom of her feet. In contrast, the viewers will only focus on the drapery cloaking Veiled and Masked Dancer. While looking at it the viewer can see that the sculptor planned out the material carefully and created a complex silhouette to be the main focus. Another similarity would be that both sculptures were made to be admired from different views. This is noticeable because the Sleeping Hermaphrodite has the male genitals on the opposite side of the main view. One also can't see the full detail
of the sheets from just the main view, or how her feet and arm pull the sheet. The same goes for the Veiled and Masked Dancer, without walking all the way around the statue the person is not capable of seeing the full impact of the drapery and all of its layers. Especially from the side where her left hand holds a bundle of the material that elegantly unfolds down with extravagant detail. A difference between the two statues is that one is designed to be a god and the other designed to be a professional entertainer from everyday Greek life. Another difference would be the reason these statues were made. While the Sleeping Hermaphrodite was probably made to be a human size figure of the god Hermaphroditus, the Veiled and Masked Dancer was probably made to replicate what life was like for the Greek during the time it was made. Although they were made for different reasons, they were likely to still have the same use which would have been to decorate the homes of the rich.