Carl Milles Man and Pegasus 1949

Flying across the distant sky are the flying horse Pegasus and Bellerophon, the hero of Corinth. As he races on his way to slay a beast known as the Chimera, Bellerophon extends his body with all his might, as if he is trying to fly even higher. The two sculptures, which have taken on an acrobatic posture, have been installed, based upon strict mechanical calculations, with superb balance upon a pedestal extending upwards. Their appearances are so light that one wouldn’t think they were made out of weighty bronze. This piece took Greek mythology as its theme and was created by Carl Milles, a Swedish sculptor. After serving as an assistant to Rodin for a time in Paris at the turn of the century, Milles later went on to utilize his ample powers of imagination to establish an original style that featured free and easy movement. Other pieces by Milles such as The Hand of God, which depicts a young man gazing upward upon the hand of God, and Sunglitter, a fountain sculpture that depicts a man riding on a Dolphin, are also exhibited at the Hakone Open-Air Museum.