The identity of the present bust is an interesting study of how our understanding of antique sculpture has affected the modern works which are inspired by it. The antique bust upon which this Ariadne is loosely based was published by Winckelmann in 1767 as a bust of Ariadne, although subsequent scholars have determined that it is more likely to be an effeminate representation of Dionysus, or Bacchus, himself (Penny, loc. cit.). The result of this difference of identification is that Francesco Righetti, among numerous other neo-classical sculptors, produced modern versions of the 'Ariadne', often paired with a male bust of Bacchus or the Capitoline Antinous. It is undoubtedly for this reason that when the sculptor of the present lot carved this bust, he created an unquestionably feminine figure.