DEMETRE CHIPARUS 1886-1947

This figure of Thais combines the Symbolist fascinations with Orientalism and Egyptian mysticism, in a characteristic 1920s aesthetic and at the same time still resonates today as a masterpiece. In 1890 Anatole France created his eponymous novel Thais, who in 1894 became the subject of an opera by Jules Massenet. Staged in Alexandria in the fourth century, the book narrates the tale of a monk attempting to convert the courtesan Thais. The religious eroticism of the opera thrilled the Parisian public of the time and clearly inspire Chiparus to portray the subject in this bronze and ivory sculpture. This is a rare pieces of which very few examples are known to exist.