Hebe and the Eagle of Jupiter

Toward the end of his career, François Rude’s native city of Dijon, France, commissioned him to create a marble sculpture. For its subject, Rude chose the Greek goddess of youth, Hebe, whom he depicted as cupbearer to the gods, raising a vessel of the divine beverage ambrosia above her father, Zeus, in the guise of an eagle. Rude made the model for the marble statue in 1852 but did not live to finish the work, which was completed by his nephew. This bronze is a smaller version of the marble, and the existence of many other similar casts indicate the work’s popularity.