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Lot Essay
As recorded in the letters of Pliny the Younger, Paetus was a Roman senator involved in an uprising against Emperor Claudius in AD 42. Following the revolt’s failure, he was condemned to death but was permitted the more ‘honourable’ route of taking his own life. Dagger in hand, Paetus hesitated to carry out his sentence and seeing this, his wife Arria grabbed the weapon and stabbed herself, saying the words ‘Non dolet, Paete!’ (It doesn't hurt, Paetus!) thus emboldening her husband to do the same.
Laurent Hubert has chosen to represent this final dramatic moment between the tragic couple, in which Arria retrieves the dagger from her breast and offers it to her husband, who is shown recoiling in shock. Arria’s actions were considered to exemplify honour and self-sacrifice, and the story later became popular among artists, particularly following the rediscovery of the sculpture known as the Ludovisi Gaul in the early 17th century. The ancient marble depicts a man plunging a sword into his chest alongside his dead wife and was thought to represent the couple.
The present bronze is recorded as having been exhibited by Hubert at the Académie de Saint-Luc in 1753 and was described as: ‘Un groupe en bronze de deux pieds de proportion représentant Pétus & Arrie; Arrie présente un poignard à son Mari, après s’en être frappé le sein, lui disant: Tiens Pétus, il ne fait point du mal’ (A bronze group two feet in height representing Paetus & Arria, Arria offers a dagger to her husband, after having struck her breast with it, saying: ‘Here, Paetus, it does not hurt’).
Laurent Hubert has chosen to represent this final dramatic moment between the tragic couple, in which Arria retrieves the dagger from her breast and offers it to her husband, who is shown recoiling in shock. Arria’s actions were considered to exemplify honour and self-sacrifice, and the story later became popular among artists, particularly following the rediscovery of the sculpture known as the Ludovisi Gaul in the early 17th century. The ancient marble depicts a man plunging a sword into his chest alongside his dead wife and was thought to represent the couple.
The present bronze is recorded as having been exhibited by Hubert at the Académie de Saint-Luc in 1753 and was described as: ‘Un groupe en bronze de deux pieds de proportion représentant Pétus & Arrie; Arrie présente un poignard à son Mari, après s’en être frappé le sein, lui disant: Tiens Pétus, il ne fait point du mal’ (A bronze group two feet in height representing Paetus & Arria, Arria offers a dagger to her husband, after having struck her breast with it, saying: ‘Here, Paetus, it does not hurt’).