Lot 16
16
A PAIR OF LOUIS XIV BRONZE BUSTS OF THE YOUNG CHRIST AND THE VIRGIN
A PAIR OF LOUIS XIV BRONZE BUSTS OF THE YOUNG CHRIST AND THE VIRGIN

LATE 17TH/EARLY 18TH CENTURY, CAST FROM MODELS BY FRANOIS DUQUESNOY

Details
A PAIR OF LOUIS XIV BRONZE BUSTS OF THE YOUNG CHRIST AND THE VIRGIN
Late 17th/Early 18th Century, cast from models by Franois Duquesnoy
Each draped bust above a rose and white veined marble socle
8.2/3in. (22cm.) high and 8in. (20cm.) high, respectively, including socle (2)

Lot Essay

This pair of busts is among Duquesnoy's most popular creations. Bellori records that a pair of terracotta heads of the young Christ and the Virgin were in the collection of Francesco Barberini. From these, Duquesnoy cast and chased versions in silver for Queen Henrietta Maria of England and for Cardinal Camillo Massimi (G. P. Bellori, Le vite de'pittori, scultori et architetti moderni, Rome,. 1672, p. 283). Bronze examples are in the Galleria Estense, Modena and the Kunsthistoriches Museum, Vienna. For a complete discussion, see M. Fransolet, Francois du Quesnoy - Sculpteur d'Urbain VIII 1597-1643, Brussels, 1942, p. 176, nos. 9 and 10, pl. XXIII.