The Sculptor and the Statue of Jupiter

A sculptor buys a fine block of marble and decides to carve it into an armed god holding thunder. His skill makes the statue so like Jupiter that it lacks only speech. After completing it, however, the sculptor himself becomes afraid of the frown of the image he has made. The poem compares this response to a poet fearing the anger of gods created by his own imagination, and to children treating dolls as though they possessed real power. Imagination, it argues, governs the heart and gives rise to pagan errors, as people passionately defend the chimeras they create. Like Pygmalion loving a figure made by his own art, people turn dreams into realities, resisting truth while eagerly embracing falsehood.

By Jean de La Fontaine · First published 1678 · Genre: Fable, Didactic Poetry, Moral Allegory · 407 words

First lines

A block of marble was so fine, / To buy it did a sculptor hasten. / 'What shall my chisel, now 'tis mine -- / A god, a table, or a basin?'

'A god,' said he, 'the thing shall be; / I'll arm it, too, with thunder. / Let people quake, and bow the knee / With reverential wonder.'

• Open reader

Similar titles

• The Wallet by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Woodman And Mercury by Jean De La Fontaine
• Jupiter And The Passenger by Jean De La Fontaine
• Jupiter And The Thunderbolts by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Horoscope by Jean De La Fontaine
• The Fowler The Hawk And The Lark by Jean De La Fontaine

Genres

• Fable — A concise allegorical narrative uses a sculptor's fear of his own Jupiter statue to teach a clear moral about imagination, superstition, and self-created beliefs.
• Didactic Poetry — The verse explicitly instructs readers about the human tendency to mistake imagined creations for realities and to embrace falsehood over truth.
• Moral Allegory — The statue represents invented gods and chimeras, while the sculptor represents people who become subject to the beliefs and fears they create.
• Satire — La Fontaine critically and ironically mocks pagan religious error, excessive faith, artistic self-delusion, and humanity's readiness to worship inventions.

Tags

French fable · verse fable · seventeenth-century literature · classical mythology · Jupiter · Pygmalion · sculpture · marble statue · artist and creation · idolatry · pagan religion · imagination

What this Textopian page supports

The Sculptor and the Statue of Jupiter is listed on Textopian as a fable by Jean de La Fontaine, dated 1678 CE.

This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.

• Work type: Fable
• Author: Jean de La Fontaine
• Date: 1678 CE
• Language: English
• Genres: Fable, Didactic Poetry, Moral Allegory, Satire, Philosophical Poetry
• Length: 407 words
• Structure: 1 section, 10 paragraphs
• Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)

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• Work identity for The Sculptor and the Statue of Jupiter by Jean de La Fontaine
• Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
• Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
• Readability and classroom-planning context
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More by Jean de La Fontaine

• To Monseigneur the Dauphin (1668)
• The Grasshopper and the Ant (1668)
• The Raven and the Fox (1668)
• The Frog that Wished to be as Big as the Ox (1668)
• The Two Mules (1668)
• The Wolf and the Dog (1668)
• The Heifer, the Goat, and the Sheep, in Company with the Lion (1668)
• The Wallet (1668)
• All works by Jean de La Fontaine