Goal
Tantalus
Ivory
Virgin and Child
Col.1:5
"For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;"
Virgin and Child from the Sainte-Chapelle
The Myth of Tantalus
King Tantalus was once
invited to share the table with the Gods on Olympus, a rare honor. In
his hubris he decided to test the omniscience of the Gods by cooking one
of his sons, Pelops, and serving them his remains at a feast. The Gods
were not fooled. Most recoiled in revulsion at the macabre dish
presented to them, all save Demeter, who was distraught by the loss of
his daughter, Persephone. Unaware Demeter indulged in the gruesome
cuisine and consumed Pelops' shoulder. Pelops was restored to life and
made whole, Hephaestus forged him a new shoulder made of ivory donated
by Demeter. For his abominable crime and gross insult to the Gods,
Tantalus was banished to the underworld for eternity. There he was bound
in a pool of water and under a peach tree. When he reached down to get a
drink, the water receded just out of his reach. When he reached up to
grab a peach, the branches lifted away dooming Tantalus to an eternity
of thirst and hunger with no reprieve. And thus, we get the term
"Tantalize."
Chess: "Goal" "Tantalus" "Ivory" "Virgin and Child"
The
Virgin and Child from the Sainte-Chapelle is an
ivory sculpture probably created in the 1260s, currently in the possession of the
Louvre Museum in
Paris. The museum itself describes it as "unquestionably the most beautiful piece of
ronde-bosse [in the round] ivory carving ever made",
[1] and the finest individual work of art in the wave of ivory sculpture coming out of Paris in the 13th and 14th centuries.
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