The Man with a Waterskin | MSK Gent
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The Man with a Waterskin, 1897

  • gypsum
  • 68.9 x 49.4 x 29.3 cm
  • Inv. 1986-AB

Public Domain

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In The Man with a Waterskin by George Minne we see a thin, sinewy man lifting a leather water bag to pour water. This is one of the few sculptures for which Minne made a series of preliminary drawings. They are in a sketchbook dated 1897-1898, which is also in the museum collection. In the sketches we see how Minne develops the composition from a baptism scene. Although in Christian symbolism water is the source of life, at the fin de siècle it represented the descent into the ‘primal waters within us’, a descent that leads to self-knowledge. This ambiguity is typical of Minne’s art.

Artist

George Minne RKD VIAF Wikidata
Ghent 1866 - Sint-Martens-Latem 1941
sculptorsAAT

Title The Man with a Waterskin
Date 1897
Period 19th century
Collection sculpture AAT
Object type gypsum AAT
Inventory number 1986-AB
Acquisition credit purchase
Kimpe (coll.)
1986
Current whereabouts Work on display
Permalink https://mskgent.be/collection/work/data/1986-AB
IIIF Manifest https://imagehub.mskgent.be/iiif/3/3559/manifest.json
Art & Architecture Thesaurus 300189808 figures (representations) AAT
300055865 Symbolism (artistic concept) AAT
Keywords Iconclass 11Q7321 baptism, christening ceremony ~ the first of the seven sacraments Iconclass
21D water (one of the four elements) Iconclass
31A the (nude) human figure; 'Corpo humano' (Ripa) Iconclass
31A231 standing figure Iconclass
31A71 male sex; man Iconclass
31D14 adult man Iconclass
32A22 thin (human type) Iconclass
32A22(+0) thin (human type) (+ variant) Iconclass
41A776 container of leather: leather bag Iconclass
School / Style Symbolism (artistic concept) AAT
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