La solitaire (Testudo)

Peter De Cleyn La solitaire

stoneware clay, metal, wood

(28 x 25 x 8 cm)

From TESTUDO:

"How the folded piece of old metal evokes something of an oppressed person, a person carrying a heavy burden on his shoulders. Someone who needs help. A lonely person, a sad person. Is it the slumped shoulders that do it or is it the position of the hands in front of the cross? Jacques Gallot (ca.1625-ca.1695) wrote a lute piece entitled 'La Solitaire', but the most iconic piece about loneliness is 'Oh Solitude' by Henry Purcell (ca.1659 - 1695). 'Oh solitude, my sweetest choice Places devoted to the night Remote from tumult and from noise now here my restless thoughts delight Oh solitude, oh solitude, my sweetest sweetest choice'"