Gradiva
Sign in to savethumb|The original Roman relief upon which Gradiva was based (Vatican City). |300x300px Gradiva, or "She who steps along", is a mythic figure created by Wilhelm Jensen as a central character in his novella Gradiva (1902). The character was inspired by an existing Roman relief. She later became a prominent subject in Surrealist art after Sigmund Freud published an essay on Jensen's work.
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thumb|The original Roman relief upon which Gradiva was based (Vatican City). |300x300px Gradiva, or "She who steps along", is a mythic figure created by Wilhelm Jensen as a central character in his novella Gradiva (1902). The character was inspired by an existing Roman relief. She later became a prominent subject in Surrealist art after Sigmund Freud published an essay on Jensen's work.
== Origins == The character first appeared in Wilhelm Jensen's eponymous novella Gradiva. In the novella, the protagonist is fascinated by a female figure in an ancient relief and names her Gradiva, Latin for "she who steps along". The name is also believed to be an homage to Mars Gradivus, the Roman god of war.