Lot Essay
The present pair of figures are adapted copies of the Hellenistic bronze described by Pliny simply as Adorans and attributed to Boidas, one of the three sons of the celebrated sculptor Lysippos. The original sculpture, lacking arms which, judging by the rest of the pose, had originally been raised, is thought to have been found at the beginning of the 16th century during excavations around the city walls of Rhodes. This is made more plausible by the fact that at the time the bronze arrived in Venice in 1503 it belonged to a Knight of St John and Jerusalem, an order based at Malta and at Rhodes. During the 17th century, the bronze passed through the collections of Charles I and II before entering that of Frederick the Great in 1747, now with arms restored. In 1807 the sculpture was seized by the French for the Muse Napolon, before being finally returned to Berlin, to the Pergamon Museum, where it remains today.
It is probable that the adaptation of the original Praying Boy, as the work became known, with the addition of vine garland and animal pelt about the waist, was conceived during its stay in Paris. Given the inscriptions and Napoleonic bees and couronnes on the bases of the present pair of figures, and more importantly, what appear to be inventory numbers stamped on the pedestals below their marble tops, it is feasible that they were at some point in the collection of the Emperor Napoleon III. There is, however, no record of a pair of such figures having been at Compigne. It is interesting to note that on each base Compigne has been mispelt, presumably an error on the part of an Italian fonderia who is most likely to have produced the casts.
It is probable that the adaptation of the original Praying Boy, as the work became known, with the addition of vine garland and animal pelt about the waist, was conceived during its stay in Paris. Given the inscriptions and Napoleonic bees and couronnes on the bases of the present pair of figures, and more importantly, what appear to be inventory numbers stamped on the pedestals below their marble tops, it is feasible that they were at some point in the collection of the Emperor Napoleon III. There is, however, no record of a pair of such figures having been at Compigne. It is interesting to note that on each base Compigne has been mispelt, presumably an error on the part of an Italian fonderia who is most likely to have produced the casts.