ANTOINE LOUIS BARYE (French, 1796-1875)

Details

ANTOINE LOUIS BARYE (French, 1796-1875)

'Angélique et Roger montés sur l'hippogriffe', A Bronze Group

inscribed 'BARYE'
20 1/8in. (51cm.) high, on Belgian marble base inscribed 'AFFAIRE SUDRE. 10 & 11 JUIN 1874.' and 'Á M^R H. LULÉ DÉJARDIN LA BOUCHERIE DE BORDEAUX RECONNAISSANTE', rich dark greenish brown patina

Literature

J.B. Speed Art Museum, Nineteenth Century French Sculpture: Monuments for the Middle Class, Lexington, Kentucky, November 2-December 5, 1971, pp. 43, 50, cat. no. 9
S. Pivar, The Barye Bronzes: A Catalogue Raisonne, Woodbridge, Suffolk, 1974, pp. 36, 65, cat. no. F16
H.W. Janson and P. Fusco, The Romantics to Rodin, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1980, pp. 136-137, cat. no. 23
G.F. Benge, Antoine Louis Barye, Sculptor of Romantic Realism, University Park, Pennsylvania, pp. 93, 95-97, 150, 153, fig. 84
H.W. Janson, Nineteenth Century Sculpture, London, 1985, pp. 117-118
A. Pingeot et al, Chefs d'Oeuvre de la Sculpture du XIXe Siècle, Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, 12 April-28 July, 1986, pp. 24-25

Lot Essay

Roger and Angelica was commissioned by the Duc de Montpensier in 1846 who had been inspired by the surtout-de-table oordered by his brother, the Duc D'Orleans. The scene depicted forms the climax of the Renaissance poem Orlando Furioso by Ariosto. Angelica is saved from the seamonster Orc by the pagen knight Roger who carries her away on the Hippogrif, which is the offspring of a griffen and a mare.

In Barye's early catalogue dated 1847, it was more than twice as expensive as any other work, priced at 1,100 francs, and therefore very few were cast. Other examples are at the Louvre, the Walters Art Gallery, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Corcoran.