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Lot Essay
The antique version of the Belvedere Antinous, currently housed in the Musei Vaticani, Rome, was first recorded in 1543 when the vast sum of 1000 ducats was paid by Pope Paul III for it to be placed in the Belvedere Garden. Since then it has been regarded as one of the finest antique sculptures to have survived, displaying, as Hogarth once said, the 'utmost beauty of proportion' (Haskel and Penny, op. cit, p. 142). Similarly, the Venus de' Medici (Uffizi, Florence), first documented about 100 years after the Antinous, attracted incredible attention with artists, writers and patrons alike solemnising her form, shape and beauty. Humorously, Haskel and Penny (ibid., p. 325) go as far to say that virtually every writer who devoted lines of literary praise to her always prefaced their remarks with comments on their inadequacy to 'describe the indescribable' - this latter comment having been made by Byron, which concluded his five stanzas of description of her.
It is, therefore, no surprise that two of the finest antique survivals that perfectly embodied the idea of classical beauty were paired and reproduced on a grand scale. The bronzes being offered here are no exception. Their uniqueness, however, lies in their large scale, which dwarfs the more regular tabletop bronzes produced in Italy from the 17th century onwards. These large, heavy casts, with the characteristic finely finished surfaces exude the grandeur of French bronze production of the 17th and 18th centuries. One need only look at the two French bronzes of Nessus Abducting Deianira and the Rape of a Sabine woman by a Roman Horseman in the Wallace Collection, London (Wenley, op. cit.) both dating from the first half of the 18th century to see the same richness of patination, and fine finish as seen on the present lot. A slightly smaller but nevertheless similar bronze to the Venus de' Medici was sold in these Rooms, 10 June 2004, lot 145 (£57,360).
It is, therefore, no surprise that two of the finest antique survivals that perfectly embodied the idea of classical beauty were paired and reproduced on a grand scale. The bronzes being offered here are no exception. Their uniqueness, however, lies in their large scale, which dwarfs the more regular tabletop bronzes produced in Italy from the 17th century onwards. These large, heavy casts, with the characteristic finely finished surfaces exude the grandeur of French bronze production of the 17th and 18th centuries. One need only look at the two French bronzes of Nessus Abducting Deianira and the Rape of a Sabine woman by a Roman Horseman in the Wallace Collection, London (Wenley, op. cit.) both dating from the first half of the 18th century to see the same richness of patination, and fine finish as seen on the present lot. A slightly smaller but nevertheless similar bronze to the Venus de' Medici was sold in these Rooms, 10 June 2004, lot 145 (£57,360).