Johann Heinrich von Dannecker (1758-1841, after): Ariadne and the panther, alabaster, 20th C.

H 40 - L 34,5 - D 16 cm

The sculpture depicts the Cretan princess Ariadne, wife of the god of wine Dionysus, seated on a big cat in a relaxed pose. Immediately after completion of the original work (1803), the sculpture by von Dannecker was already regarded one of his masterpieces. The sculpture expresses the idea of 'wildness tamed by beauty'. In 1810 the statue was sold to the Frankfurt banker Simon Moritz von Bethmann (1768–1826), and in 1816 it was put on display in the so-called Odeon, the first museum in Frankfurt to be open to the public. From 1856 onwards it stood in the specially built 'Ariadneum'. Every day, according to Bethmann, there was a 'positive pilgrimage' to see the sculptor’s most famous work (link).