AFTER THE ANTIQUE, BY THE MICHELI WORKSHOPS, BERLIN, 19TH CENTURY

Details

A PLASTER BUST OF HERMES
AFTER THE ANTIQUE, BY THE MICHELI WORKSHOPS, BERLIN, 19TH CENTURY
Depicted with head lowered and facing slightly to sinister; on an integrally cast circular socle; inscribed to the reverse 'Gebrüder Micheli Berlin HERMES aus Olympia'; minor chip to the socle
32 in. (81 cm.) high

Special notice

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Lot Essay

The present plaster bust is copy of the original marble group of Hermes with the infant Dionysus dated to circa 330 BC and housed in the Olympia Museum, Greece. With its elegant contrapposto and naturalistically rendered details, the marble has, since its discovery in 1877, been considered to be one of the greatest surviving marbles from antiquity and certainly the most important work attributed to the Attic sculptor Praxiteles.

An identical cast of this bust was sold in Sotheby's, Chanter's House sale, 24 October 2006, lot 94, £4,320.

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