The Dying Centaur
The mythical centaur, with the head and torso of a man and lower body of a horse, represented Rimmer’s recurrent fascination with dueling forces of the spiritual and the physical, the mortal and the immortal, the animal and the human. Here, a centaur who has collapsed futilely attempts to rise. The truncated, upraised arms express the pathos of the dying creature’s plight. Rimmer modeled the sculpture while he was teaching at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York and left no commentary on its enigmatic meaning. However, among the proposed interpretations is a connection to the moral tales of poet and theologian Edward Young, in which a centaur confronts his death after a lifetime of debauchery. Facing God’s judgement, he desperately seeks salvation, possibly referring to Rimmer's own moral tumult and lifelong struggles with mental illness.
Artwork Details
- Title: The Dying Centaur
- Artist: William Rimmer (American (born England), Liverpool 1816–1879 South Milford, Massachusetts)
- Founder: Cast by Gorham Manufacturing Company (American, Providence, Rhode Island, 1831–present)
- Date: 1869; cast 1905
- Culture: American
- Medium: Bronze
- Dimensions: 21 1/2 x 25 x 19 in. (54.6 x 63.5 x 48.3 cm)
- Credit Line: Gift of Edward Holbrook, 1906
- Object Number: 06.146
- Curatorial Department: The American Wing
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William Rimmer
T. R. Holland and Company
1864
Multiple artists/makers
1864
William Rimmer
William Rimmer
John Williams
1861; cast 1907
William Rimmer
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