"Undine Rising From the Waters" by American sculptor Chauncey Bradley Ives (1880) is a masterpiece of neo-classical illusionistic sculpture. The artist took on one of the hardest tasks imaginable - carving from solid marble the rippling wet gown of the "Undine" as she rises up from the water.
According to medieval lore, undines were Mediterranean sea spirits who lived as soulless mortals. Baron Heinrich Karl de la Motte Fouqué's 19th century novel "Undine" popularized the story of a water spirit gaining human form by marrying a mortal knight.
When her husband is unfaithful, the laws of the water spirits force her to kill him. The sculpture depicts the moment when the mournful Undine, cloaked in a delicate veil, rises from the water to claim her husband's life.
And from Wikipedia:
Things like this amaze me, as does hand-cutting diamonds. You have to visualise so well, work with the rock, and you cannot make a single mistake or chip the rock at the wrong angle.
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