Allegory of the Elements Water and Air
ca. 1688 | Matthias Steinl
The figural group, composed in the tapering tusk of a walrus, shows a triton with a shell trumpet and two nude figures whose bodies twist upward. From above, a flying putto, symbolic of air, reaches toward the outstretched shell. This virtuosic work was probably created in connection with the appointment of Matthias Steinl as “Bone Engraver to the Imperial Chamber.”
The figural group, composed in the tapering tusk of a walrus, shows a triton with a shell trumpet and two nude figures whose bodies twist upward. From above, a flying putto, symbolic of air, reaches toward the outstretched shell. This virtuosic work was probably created in connection with the appointment of Matthias Steinl as “Bone Engraver to the Imperial Chamber.”
Artist:
Matthias Steinl (1643/44 Mattsee/Salzburg ? - 1727 Wien) DNB
Time:
ca. 1688
Object Name
Statuette; ivory carving
Culture
Wrocław or Vienna
Material/technology:
Walrus tusk ivory
Dimensions:
49,4 cm × 9,7 cm
Copyright
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Kunstkammer
Invs.
Kunstkammer, 4533