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{{Short description|19th-century double sculpture}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox artwork
| title = Mephistopheles and Margaretta
| image = Scuola francese, mefistofele e margaretta, dal faust, 1890 ca. 02.jpg
| caption = ''Mephistopheles and Margaretta'', with the reverse visible in a mirror
| medium = [[Acer pseudoplatanus|Sycamore]] wood
| subject = Characters from [[Goethe's Faust|Goethe's ''Faust'']]
| height_metric = 177.2
| metric_unit = cm
| imperial_unit = in
| weight =
| museum = [[Salar Jung Museum]]
| city = [[Hyderabad]], [[India]]
| coordinates =
| website =
}}

'''''Mephistopheles and Margaretta''''' is a 19th-century wooden double sculpture on display in the [[Salar Jung Museum]] in [[Hyderabad]], [[India]]. The sculpture features two images carved on opposite sides, portraying two characters from German [[playwright]] [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]]'s 1808 play ''[[Goethe's Faust|Faust]]''. The obverse depicts the demon [[Mephistopheles]], and the reverse depicts Margaretta. A mirror placed behind the sculpture allows both sides to be seen simultaneously.

==Background==
The statue reflects the themes of good and evil in [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe|Goethe's]] ''[[Goethe's Faust|Faust]]''.<ref name="Salar" />

In the play, [[Faust]] is frustrated with his life and attempts suicide. He calls for [[Satan]]'s help, and the demon Mephistopheles, an agent of Satan, responds. Faust is told that Mephistopheles will serve him as long as he lives, but after his death, Faust would forfeit his soul and become enslaved forever.<ref name="Goethe" /> He agrees, making a [[deal with the Devil]], and as one of his requests for magic, Mephistopheles seduces a young woman named Gretchen (Margaretta) for Faust. She is impregnated by Faust and gives birth to their bastard son. Upon realizing the evil, Gretchen drowns her child and is subsequently imprisoned on charges of murder. She is ultimately hanged, but is granted entry into heaven. Faust is also saved by God because of Gretchen's pleadings.<ref name="Goethe" />

The statue is one of the major attractions of the Salar Jung Museum's European Art Section, and is one of the museum's most photographed exhibits.<ref name=":0" /> It was presumably created in the late 19th century by an unknown French sculptor, and was acquired by the former [[Prime Minister of Hyderabad]] [[Mir Turab Ali Khan, Salar Jung I|Salar Jung I]] in 1876 during his travels in France. The choice of Faust, a traditional German story, reflects the growing interest in German subjects in late-nineteenth-century France.

== Description ==
[[File:Scuola francese, mefistofele e margaretta, dal faust, 1890 ca. 03.jpg|thumb|Full size of the sculpture]]
The statue is 177.2 cm tall and carved out of a single block of [[Acer pseudoplatanus|sycamore]] wood. It is exhibited with a mirror placed behind it, allowing viewers to observe both sides at the same time.

The obverse is a depiction of a confident and arrogant Mephistopheles,<ref name="Jessica Stewart" /> wearing a hood and boots, and with a smirk on his face.<ref name="Haseeb" /> On the reverse side, Gretchen is depicted with her head bowed,<ref name="Jessica Stewart" /> appearing as a simple girl with downcast eyes.<ref name="Salar" /><ref name="Haseeb" />

The [[dichotomy]] of good and evil is emphasized by the innocence of the female figure, a demure woman holding a prayer book in her hand, contrasting with the depiction of evil exemplified by Mephistopheles.<ref name="Salar" /><ref name="Sripada"/>

The sculpture represents the thin line between the duplicity of good and evil as represented by Margaretta and Mephistopheles, respectively. The male image stands proud in a hooded cloak, heeled boots and has a long, gaunt face with a cynical smile, while Margaretta is shown as a shy girl with a prayer book in her hand, and downcast eyes, lost in love.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Salar Jung Museum |title=Treasures : Salar Jung Museum, Hyderabad. |date=2014 |others=National Culture Fund |isbn=978-93-83098-26-2 |location=New Delhi |oclc=871215664}}</ref>
== See also ==

* [[Mephistopheles in the arts and popular culture]]
* [[Devil in the arts and popular culture]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="Jessica Stewart">{{cite news |last1=Stewart |first1=Jessica |title=This 19th-Century "Double Sculpture" Tells a Tale of Two Different People on Back and Front |url=https://mymodernmet.com/mephistopheles-margaretta-sculpture-india/ |access-date=10 February 2022 |publisher=My Modern Met |date=6 November 2019 |archive-date=10 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220210211828/https://mymodernmet.com/mephistopheles-margaretta-sculpture-india/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="Sripada">{{cite news |last1=Sripada |first1=Krishna |title=An all-season destination |url=https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/salar-jung-museum-the-must-go-to-place-for-locals-as-well-as-tourists/article19594340.ece |access-date=10 February 2022 |work=The Hindu |date=31 August 2017 |archive-date=10 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220210211740/https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/salar-jung-museum-the-must-go-to-place-for-locals-as-well-as-tourists/article19594340.ece |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="Salar">{{cite news |title=The Double Statue of Mephistopheles & Margaretta : Salar Jung Museum |url=https://www.theheritagelab.in/mephistopheles-margaretta/ |access-date=10 February 2022 |publisher=The Heritage Lab |date=18 December 2016}}</ref>
<ref name="Goethe">{{cite book |last1=Goethe |first1=Johann Wolfgang von |title=Faust, part I |date=1985 |publisher=Bantam Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0-553-21348-5 |pages=1–433 |edition=Rev. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h_dvDwAAQBAJ&q=faust |access-date=10 February 2022 |archive-date=26 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220226162443/https://www.google.com/books/edition/Faust/h_dvDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=faust&printsec=frontcover |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="Haseeb">{{cite news |last1=Haseeb |first1=Ahssanuddin |title=A Virtual Tour With A Difference Of 'Salarjung Museum' In Hyderabad |url=https://www.hydnews.net/a-virtual-tour-with-a-difference-of-salarjung-museum-in-hyderabad/ |access-date=11 February 2022 |publisher=Hyderabad News |date=27 February 2019 |archive-date=11 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220211191004/https://www.hydnews.net/a-virtual-tour-with-a-difference-of-salarjung-museum-in-hyderabad/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
}}

== External links ==
{{commons category|Mephistopheles & Margaretta statue (Hyderabad)}}
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ysmj9959efw Video of Mephistopheles and Margaretta Sculpture]

{{Faust}}

[[Category:19th-century sculptures]]
[[Category:Sculptures based on literature]]
[[Category:Statues in India]]
[[Category:Statues of fictional characters]]
[[Category:Works based on Goethe's Faust]]
[[Category:Collection of the Salar Jung Museum]]

Mephistopheles and Margaretta - Revision history

Vernell29N: created a stub with sources