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Lot Essay
The original marble versions of these bronzes were discovered in 1736 by Monsignor Furietti at Hadrian's Villa. Their decorative qualities offered copyists great possibilites for production in small-scale bronzes. Thus the latter part of the 18th century and the start of the 19th saw them produced in large numbers, both as miniature bronzes and life-size marble and plaster versions.
The desirability of the originals was so great that in 1763 Pope Benedict XIV offered Furietti a Cardinal's hat for them, while in 1765 the English offered vast sums before they were finally secured by the Capitoline Museum, Rome, where they are currently housed (Haskell and Penny, loc.cit.).
In 1765 Bartolomeo Cavaceppi, a sculptor and antiquarian, brokered a deal to sell the first casts to the English sculptor Joseph Nollekens. From then on copies could be seen in prominent places such as the Royal Academy, London, flanking a cast of the Medici Vase in the staircase vestibule.
The desirability of the originals was so great that in 1763 Pope Benedict XIV offered Furietti a Cardinal's hat for them, while in 1765 the English offered vast sums before they were finally secured by the Capitoline Museum, Rome, where they are currently housed (Haskell and Penny, loc.cit.).
In 1765 Bartolomeo Cavaceppi, a sculptor and antiquarian, brokered a deal to sell the first casts to the English sculptor Joseph Nollekens. From then on copies could be seen in prominent places such as the Royal Academy, London, flanking a cast of the Medici Vase in the staircase vestibule.