Carl Milles
Genius, 1940/ cast 1995
Cast bronze
Museum Purchase
Milles’s Genius was originally commissioned as a monument to the Swedish novelist, poet, playwright, essayist and painter August Strindberg. Rather than a portrait of the dramatist, Milles focused on giving Strindberg’s genius human form (or personifying it), a rather fortuitous decision since the commission ultimately fell through.
In Milles’ sculpture, genius is a winged man or possibly an angel playing the lyre. This clever choice on the artist’s part combined several mythological references into one figure. Orpheus, perhaps the most famous mythological Greek musician, played the lyre so well he almost managed to bring his wife back from the dead with his songs. Orpheus, however, is not usually pictured with wings—but the muses often are. These female figures inspire artists—geniuses—to reach great heights. In fact, in one well-known painting by Gustave Moreau, a winged muse gives a lyre to the Greek poet Hesiod. Genius’ wings and tortured pose may also remind you of Icarus, who ignored the wisdom of his genius-inventor father. He flew too close to the sun while wearing wings designed by said father, and fell to his death. Icarus thus reminds us of the price we pay for greatness. The figure’s resemblance to Christian angels might also imply that genius is a gift from God.