"Spend five minutes with this nine-foot-tall vase. Look for the army of snails with their little horns, all different one from another, featured with such naturalism at the very bottom: it appears they are climbing in slow motion, inching along to the top. And so should you, with your eyes.
Look in a spiral and move around, up, and down to jump into a fantastic symbolist universe where you’ll discover a spider, a strange batman, lace, ribbons, the signature of the artist, the date of the piece, and the foundry mark of the Brussels foundry. Only a slow viewing allows you to appreciate the incredible twisting of the handles or the details of the peacock feathers at the very top.”
Recommended viewing for slowartday from our decorative arts & sculpture curator, Anne-Lise Desmas.
To zoom in and let your “eyes” wander, click here.
Vase (detail), 1889, Jean-Desire Ringel d’Illzach. Bronze and copper, 107 1/2 x 40 9/16 in. The J. Paul Getty Museum.