Japanese Nightingale

Willem Lenssinck

The title of the sculpture refers to Hans Christian Andersen's Japanese fairy tale. A Chinese emperor falls in love with the song of a real nightingale. When he receives a mechanical, jewel-encrusted nightingale as a gift, he prefers the artwork to the real animal. When the mechanical bird breaks down and the emperor becomes terminally ill as a result, the real nightingale saves him by singing for him again. Therefore, this sculpture has a key on its back as a reference to the mechanical bird.

110 x 37 x 35 cm

Bronze & Granite with Rotating Wings

2003