Lot Essay
The Antique marble Cleopatra, now in the Vatican Museums, was greatly admired from the time it was first recorded in 1512. Primaticcio had a bronze cast, with slight variations, made for François I, now in the Musée de Fontainebleau; and two were marbles carved for Louis XIV by Jean-Baptiste Goy and Corneille van Cleve respectively. Another Antique marble version of the Cleopatra stood in the gardens of the Villa Medici in Rome. It was restored during the Renaissance, moved to Florence in 1787, clumsily re-worked in the 19th Century and is now in the Museo Archeologico
in Florence.
The C-couronné was used in France between 1745 and 1749, consequently the present bronze must have been cast prior to 1749. It resembles three bronzes, which have been convincingly claimed by Lorenz Seelig (op.cit.) to be copies of the Medici Cleopatra. The present queen is more elongated and languorous and shares these characteristics with both the Medici figure and van Cleve's marble of 1684-6 at Versailles. Souchal (op. cit.) lists a bronze reduction of van Cleve's marble, 30 x 54cm., entered as number 464 in the Blondel de Gagny Sale in Paris 10 december 1776. Seelig (op. cit.) records that a wax model of this subject, now in the Louvre, is identical to the three known bronze statuettes, all of the same size as the present example.
This bronze Cleopatra is also stamped with 19th Century inventory marks, which appear to relate to the Château de Saint-Cloud. Originally the property of Philippe duc d'Orleans, younger brother of Louis XIV, Saint-Cloud changed hands with rapid succession from the end of the 18th Century. Enthusiastic patron of the arts, Philippe d'Orleans's decoration of Saint-Cloud was greatly admired. In 1784 Marie-Antoinette purchased the palace from him; it was then occupied in turn by Napoleon; Charles X; Louis-Philippe d'Orleans and Napoleon III, eventually being burned down by the Prussians in 1871. The presence of three inventory numbers on this bronze, two being deliberately cancelled, may be explained by the forced withdrawal of the various inhabitants of Saint-Cloud.
in Florence.
The C-couronné was used in France between 1745 and 1749, consequently the present bronze must have been cast prior to 1749. It resembles three bronzes, which have been convincingly claimed by Lorenz Seelig (op.cit.) to be copies of the Medici Cleopatra. The present queen is more elongated and languorous and shares these characteristics with both the Medici figure and van Cleve's marble of 1684-6 at Versailles. Souchal (op. cit.) lists a bronze reduction of van Cleve's marble, 30 x 54cm., entered as number 464 in the Blondel de Gagny Sale in Paris 10 december 1776. Seelig (op. cit.) records that a wax model of this subject, now in the Louvre, is identical to the three known bronze statuettes, all of the same size as the present example.
This bronze Cleopatra is also stamped with 19th Century inventory marks, which appear to relate to the Château de Saint-Cloud. Originally the property of Philippe duc d'Orleans, younger brother of Louis XIV, Saint-Cloud changed hands with rapid succession from the end of the 18th Century. Enthusiastic patron of the arts, Philippe d'Orleans's decoration of Saint-Cloud was greatly admired. In 1784 Marie-Antoinette purchased the palace from him; it was then occupied in turn by Napoleon; Charles X; Louis-Philippe d'Orleans and Napoleon III, eventually being burned down by the Prussians in 1871. The presence of three inventory numbers on this bronze, two being deliberately cancelled, may be explained by the forced withdrawal of the various inhabitants of Saint-Cloud.