Leucothea and Bacchus at The Palace of Versailles, France

This marble sculpture titled 'Woman with Child', also known as 'Leucothea and Bacchus' was carved by an unknown sculptor. The group piece depicts a woman holding a child. In Greek mythology, Leucothea (white goddess) was one of the aspects under which an ancient sea goddess was recognized, in this case as a transformed nymph. In this instance the goddess is most probably the manifestation of Ino after she leapt into the sea with her son Melicertes (another sculpture from the gardens of the Palace of Versailles); upon her death the Olympian gods turned them both into sea-gods, Melicertes into Palaemon, and Ino into Leucothea. The reason why Ino jumped into the sea is believed to be because she raised Dionyus (or Bacchus, as in this sculpture), her nephew, son her of sister Semele. Because Dionysus was the son of a mortal woman, Semele, and Zeus, Zeus's wife wasn't best pleased with Dionysus being taken care of (she tried to kill him in many instances). This caused Hera's intense jealousy. In vengeance, Hera struck her husband with insanity; he went mad, killed one of his sons, Learchus, thinking he was a ram, and set out in a frenzied pursuit of Ino, leading her to throw herself into the sea. In another variation Ino was stricken with insanity and killed Merlicertes by boiling him in a cauldron, then took the cauldron and jumped into the sea with it.    This object is part of Scan The World. Scan the World is a non-profit initiative introduced by MyMiniFactory, through which we are creating a digital archive of fully 3D printable sculptures, artworks and landmarks from across the globe for the public to access for free. Scan the World is an open source, community effort, if you have interesting items around you and would like to contribute, email stw@myminifactory.com to find out how you can help.