Classroom Activity

The Corinthian Maid

Part of Greco-Roman Origin Myths

Students will be introduced to the Greco-Roman myth of Dibutades and the creation of the first relief sculpture by critically analyzing Joseph Wright’s painting The Corinthian Maid. They will then mimic the artistic process presented in this myth by drawing an outline of their classmate to use as the basis for the own relief sculpture in clay.

A woman leans forward to trace the shadow cast by a sleeping young man on a wall in a dimly lit room in this horizontal painting. Both people have smooth, pale skin, long, straight noses, thin lips, and brown hair. The man sits and sleeps on a deep, wood chair. The scene is lit from over our left shoulder so he casts a shadow on the brown wall on which he leans. His right arm, closer to us, hangs by his side with his palm turned to face away from his body. The other arm lies across his bent knee. He wears a harvest-yellow tunic, and a sapphire-blue cloak drapes over his far arm and the thigh closer to us. A long spear rests across one shoulder, and a thin, muted-brown dog, like a greyhound, sleeps on the ground by the man’s side. The woman leans one knee onto the chair and reaches out with a stylus to capture the man’s shadow. She is barefoot and smiles gently at his face. She also wears a dark yellow dress, which exposes one bare shoulder. A mauve-pink cloth wraps over one shoulder and the bent thigh. A deep red curtain bunched up in the upper left corner hides the light source. An urn, nearly as tall as the chair, stands behind the man and another is tipped over behind the woman. An arched opening leads into a darkened room to our right. Rectangles of red and white seen through the top of a pointed arched window there are difficult to interpret. A table and some shelves with more urns are deep in the shadows.
Joseph Wright, The Corinthian Maid, 1782-1784, oil on canvas, Paul Mellon Collection, 1983.1.46

Grade Level

Subject

Language

Materials

  • Smart Board or computer with ability to project slideshow and demo video
  • Paper large enough to draw life-size outline of a student
  • Pencil
  • Slab of clay (approximately 5” x 7” and about 2” deep)

Warm-Up Questions

What is this woman doing in this painting? What do you think will happen next?

Background

Dibutades was the daughter of a potter in ancient Corinth, a city in Greece whose wares first helped to establish the fame of Greek pottery. Hoping to keep a record of her boyfriend, who was departing the city, Dibutades traced the outline of his shadow on a wall while he slept. Her father filled in this silhouette with clay and fired it in his kiln. It became the first relief sculpture.

The figure of the youth is modeled after a sleeping Endymion that Joseph Wright of Derby, England, had drawn from a relief in Rome. He spent nearly two years there, recording ancient monuments and sculpture in his sketchbooks. The sparse furnishings, garments, and even the woman’s hairstyle are all based on archaeological evidence. The figures are arranged with a carefully measured rhythm along a narrow stage, as in a frieze or vase painting. A master of artificial illumination, Wright concealed a hanging lamp behind the curtain, suggesting the source of the beams that cast the youth’s shadow.

The painting was commissioned by Josiah Wedgwood, a pioneer of pottery manufacturing in England. His pottery copied the shapes of ancient vessels as well as their decoration, borrowing motifs from ancient glass, cameos, and relief carvings. Wedgwood’s fired clay vessels, decorated with low reliefs, can be seen as the descendents of Dibutades’ first relief sculpture.

Guided Practice

  • What moment of the story has Wright depicted? (When Dibutades draws the outline of her boyfriend on a wall.) What will happen next? How do you think the boyfriend felt when he awoke and saw that a relief of him had been made?
  • How does the artist use light and shadow to focus your attention on the action? (Highlights on the face of the youth and on Dibutades as she draws help to bring the two figures out of the dark background.) Where does this light come from? (Behind the curtain.)
  • The origin of what art form is explained by this story? (Relief sculpture.) On what objects do you see relief sculptures everyday? (On coins, the profiles of the presidents are raised reliefs.)
  • In this and many other representations of the same story, the young man is shown with a dog. Dogs are often used as symbols of faithfulness. Why might Wright have included a dog in this painting? After all, the dog isn’t doing much but sleeping.

Activity

Like Dibutades, students will pair up with a partner to create outlines of each other in preparation of sculpting a relief:

  1. Each student will get in a different pose—one they wish to be remembered in—against a large sheet of paper.
  2. Using a pencil, the other student will trace their outline onto the paper. Then students will switch spots so each student has an outline of their partner.
  3. Before students create their relief sculpture using this outline as their guide, present the slideshow "Relief Sculpture at the National Gallery of Art" below.
  4. Next, view the short time-lapse video by sculptor, Jammie Williams as he demonstrates additive and subtractive processes in clay to create a low relief sculpture of a female figure.
  5. Then, working from their pencil outline, students will create a relief in clay of their partner’s features and clothing. Note: This should not be the same size as their initial sketch, rather, each student should carve into a slap of clay approximately 5” x 7” and about 2” deep.

Slideshow: Relief Sculpture at the National Gallery of Art

Carved in high relief in white marble, a woman and the baby she holds are framed within a curved arch. The woman’s body faces us, but she turns her face to look down at the baby tucked into her left arm, to our right. The woman’s long hair is pulled back under a twisted band, and a few tendrils fall on her face. Her nose is pointed, and she has full lips over a narrow chin. Her dress is fastened on the chest with a button or brooch and is tied across the chest and high around the waist. The garment has elbow-length sleeves, and it falls in a swag across her hips over a long skirt that stops just short of her sandaled feet. The fabric is sheer so the nipple we can see is visible, and the fabric gathers in fine, shallow folds. Her other elbow is bent and held by her side, and the fingers on both hands are noticeably long. The child turns a chubby face up to the woman and crosses his hands over his chest. He is covered only by a cloth across his middle, and he has short, wavy hair. Pudgy rolls make creases on his neck, arms, and especially chunky thighs. The niche in which they stand has a fluted shell in the rounded portion above molding. The remaining niche is smooth, and the entire sculpture is set into a tan-colored wall.
Mino da Fiesole, Charity, 1475/1480, marble, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1937.1.117

Extension

Dibutades wished to remember her boyfriend’s likeness in clay. Imagine someone you cared for was leaving, what about him/her would you want to remember the most? his/her looks? his/her personality? What are some character traits of a good friend? honesty? faithfulness? respect?

National Core Arts Standards

VA:Cn10.1.5 Apply formal and conceptual vocabularies of art and design to view surroundings in new ways through art-making.

VA:Cr2.1.5 Experiment and develop skills in multiple art-making techniques and approaches through practice.

VA:Re7.1.5 Compare one's own interpretation of a work of art with the interpretation of others.

VA:Re7.2.5 Identify and analyze cultural associations suggested by visual imagery.

VA:Re8.1.5 Interpret art by analyzing characteristics of form and structure, contextual information, subject matter, visual elements, and use of media to identify ideas and mood conveyed.

Download

High resolution image of Wright's The Corinthian Maid

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A woman leans forward to trace the shadow cast by a sleeping young man on a wall in a dimly lit room in this horizontal painting. Both people have smooth, pale skin, long, straight noses, thin lips, and brown hair. The man sits and sleeps on a deep, wood chair. The scene is lit from over our left shoulder so he casts a shadow on the brown wall on which he leans. His right arm, closer to us, hangs by his side with his palm turned to face away from his body. The other arm lies across his bent knee. He wears a harvest-yellow tunic, and a sapphire-blue cloak drapes over his far arm and the thigh closer to us. A long spear rests across one shoulder, and a thin, muted-brown dog, like a greyhound, sleeps on the ground by the man’s side. The woman leans one knee onto the chair and reaches out with a stylus to capture the man’s shadow. She is barefoot and smiles gently at his face. She also wears a dark yellow dress, which exposes one bare shoulder. A mauve-pink cloth wraps over one shoulder and the bent thigh. A deep red curtain bunched up in the upper left corner hides the light source. An urn, nearly as tall as the chair, stands behind the man and another is tipped over behind the woman. An arched opening leads into a darkened room to our right. Rectangles of red and white seen through the top of a pointed arched window there are difficult to interpret. A table and some shelves with more urns are deep in the shadows.

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