Orpheus, returning from Hades without Eurydice

A circular relief shows a youthful male head in three-quarter profile, crowned with laurel leaves and framed by wind-swept hair. A lyre rests at the lower right, and a second figure's shoulder and hair appear at the left edge. The dark, partly patinated surface gives the carved forms strong highlights and shadow.

Look closer: A signature is incised on the right side of the medallion, beside the lyre.

Artist

Marie Alexandre Lucien Coudray

Date

1893–99, struck in the 20th century

Medium

Partially patinated iron

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

4000 × 4000 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bequest of Mrs. Charles Wrightsman, 2019