Seated Youth (Zittende jongeling)

About this artwork.

A young man sits in a loose pose on a tree stump. With this work, the artist Jeltsema harks back to a number of principles from classical antiquity: the young man is naked, athletically built and depicted in ideal body proportions. This way of depicting the male nude – with the emphasis on idealisation and strength – was also used in ancient Greece.
 
Frederik Engel Jeltsema was born in Uithuizen, but lived and worked in many different places, including Amsterdam, Paris, Florence, The Hague, Haren and Rome. In Rome, he worked in the studio of the Frisian sculptor Pier Pander.
 
Seated Youth dates from 1916, but he only found his place in 1960. The artist then donated the sculpture to the Municipality of Groningen, together with a female nude representing a bacchante. This last work of art is now in the town hall, at the entrance to the wedding hall.

Facts & Figures.

• Design
  Frederik Engel Jeltsema

• District
  Centrum

• Year of creation
  1916

• Art type
  Freestanding sculpture

• Material
  Bronze

• Dimensions
  h 1,30 m; sokkel h 57 cm x b 0,58-0,81 x d 1,21 m