Ludwif Eisenberger

LUDWIF EISENBERGER (active between 1895- 1930).
"Tamer of wild beasts".
Patinated bronze on Portoro marble base.
Signed.
Measurements: 51 x 32 x 16 cm.
The work represents a naked young man of idealized anatomy that controls two big cats by means of chains. The physical tension between the human body and the beasts creates a scene of great visual force, where the dominion is not exercised by explicit violence, but by containment, firmness and balance. The tamer's concentrated gesture reinforces the idea of conscious and rational control.
From the formal point of view, Eisenberger demonstrates a profound knowledge of human and animal anatomy. The treatment of the male body is reminiscent of classical Greco-Roman sculpture, reinterpreted from a modern sensibility: polished surfaces, defined musculature and a closed composition that concentrates attention on the dialogue between the figures. The felines, for their part, are modeled with naturalism and attention to detail, transmitting power and restrained alertness.
The work can be read as an allegory of the dominance of reason over instincts, a theme very present in European art of the late nineteenth century. The human being appears as a civilizing figure, capable of subduing the primal forces of nature and of himself.
Created by Ludwig Eisenberger, an artist active at the turn of the century between the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, a period marked by the coexistence between traditional academicism and the new symbolic and expressive currents.