ペルセ
ブロンズ · 1988 · エディション 1000 + HC · 3パティナ
| 作品名 | ペルセ（Perseus） |
| 素材 | ブロンズ |
| 年 | 1988 |
| エディション | 1000 + HC |
| パティナ | 茶色、緑色（2種） |
| 台座 | トラバーチン台座 |
| サイズ | 台座なし38cm · 台座込48cm |
| 署名 | トラバーチン台座にMITORAJ刻印 |
作品について
ペルセ（1988年）は、ミトライの成熟期を代表する作品です。胸と鎖骨を貫く矩形の開口部——神話的魂への窓——が特徴的なブロンズ・トルソ。アルチュリアルから1000+HCのエディションで発行されており、3つの異なるパティナ（暖かみのある茶色2種と緑色）が存在します。
アスクレピオスとの対として展示された場合、二次市場で最も求められる作品構成の一つとなります。
Persée — Technical Details
A helmet-wearing male head — the Persée is typically 25–35 cm in height in the standard edition, mounted on a separate stone or bronze base. The signature appears engraved at the base of the neck or on the lower edge, with the edition number on the reverse. The bronze surface shows Mitoraj's characteristic treatment of helmet and facial features: the helmet is resolved and detailed; the face is partially present, partially erased. Three principal patina variants are documented: warm brown (most common), green-black (oxidised, antiqued appearance), and silver (burnished, metallic). Provenance for documented examples spans private collections across France, Italy, Germany, Poland, and the United Kingdom.
The Three Patina Variants
The most important collector distinction within the Persée edition is patina. The three principal variants represent significantly different visual characters, and secondary market values reflect this.
The brown patina — warm copper-brown, similar to the Centurione and Kea editions — is the most common and the most "classic" Mitoraj colour. It reads as directly continuous with ancient bronze, and most collectors who encountered the Persée in gallery contexts in the 1990s and 2000s know the brown patina version.
The green-black patina is the most dramatic and the rarest. The deep oxidised surface recalls the actual condition of ancient bronzes recovered from archaeological contexts — Mitoraj was deeply attentive to Etruscan and Roman bronze, and the green-black patina positions the Persée within that visual tradition most explicitly. Green-black examples consistently achieve higher auction prices than brown patina examples of comparable condition.
The silver patina — polished, with the bare metal surface showing through — is the most contemporary in visual register and the most divisive among collectors. For some, the silver reads as too decorative; for others, the contrast between the burnished surface and the damaged face is the most powerful of the three readings. Silver examples are less common in the secondary market than brown patina.
Persée & Asclépios — The Duo
Among the most significant presentations of the Persée subject is the Persée & Asclépios pairing — two bronze heads displayed together, the warrior-hero and the healer facing one another. Asclépios (Aesculapius in the Roman form) was the god of medicine, identified by the serpent staff that later became the caduceus. In Mitoraj's version, Asclépios is characterised by a softness and interiority that contrasts directly with the military exterior of the Persée. Together, the two heads constitute one of Mitoraj's most explicit statements about the dual nature of classical culture: force and healing, destruction and repair.
The Persée & Asclépios pairing is documented in the collection on this site. A dedicated page covers the duo in detail: Persée & Asclépios →
