CARLONE CONTEMPORARY: Lena Henke Belvedere Palace

A yellow elephant appears to be asleep on the floor of the Baroque Carlone Hall—or, on closer inspection, is this actually a toppled row of arches? The elephant’s sleep is simultaneously the allegorical sleep of modern sculpture itself and the dream of its utopian realization as architecture. A sculptural dimension is thus added to this space in the Upper Belvedere, which is adorned with... Show more

A yellow elephant appears to be asleep on the floor of the Baroque Carlone Hall—or, on closer inspection, is this actually a toppled row of arches? The elephant’s sleep is simultaneously the allegorical sleep of modern sculpture itself and the dream of its utopian realization as architecture. A sculptural dimension is thus added to this space in the Upper Belvedere, which is adorned with illusionistic trompe l’oeil architecture and a ceiling painting. Lena Henke’s diverse sculptural work has established her as a leading contemporary artist. Aldo Rossi’s Sleeping Elephant was given to the Belvedere by a private collector in 2021.