Ivory Statue of Galatea
The ivory statue carved by Pygmalion of Cyprus, which the sculptor loved as a living woman until Aphrodite, moved by his prayer, brought it to life as Galatea, who became his wife; Ovid's Metamorphoses tells the story as the classic fable of art animated by desire. Pygmalion, disgusted by the mortal women around him, carves a maiden of such beauty that he adorns, dresses, and kisses his own work, and at the festival of Venus prays for a wife like the image; the goddess answers by warming the ivory, and the statue, turned to flesh and blood, steps into his arms. The tale is set on Cyprus, the i