Lot Essay
The present pair of bronzes are reductions of the large marble statues by Lepautre and Coustou, originally at Marly. Pierre Lepautre (1659/66-1744) executed his marble running Atalanta in 1703-4, which was first placed in the Bosquet du Couchant at Marly. The sculpture was based on the Antique from the former Mazarin Collection, now in the Louvre. The figure of Atalanta inspired three other running marbles, executed by the brothers Coustou after 1711, and known collectively as the Coureurs.
Guillaume Coustou (1677-1746) completed his figure of Hippomenes in 1712 and his figure of Daphne in 1714. His brother Nicolas (1658-1733) executed the Apollo from 1711 to 1714. As a set of four, the Coureurs were placed on an island in the middle of the Bassin des Carpes at Marly. Each stood on an elegant scrolling pedestal base and was symmetrically arranged with its respective partner. They were all moved during the Revolution to the Gardens of the Tuileries, and later stored in the Louvre.
The present bronze Atalanta is an almost identical reduction of Lepautre's marble, though the original apple has become a baton in her left hand. The bronze Hippomenes, on the other hand, varies quite considerably from Coustou's marble; the opposite arms are raised, the head is turned to the right, the apple is held in the lowered right hand and the drapery over his shoulder billows in a large arc. Souchal (op. cit.) records that two bronze reductions of this pair of Coureurs were included as number 160 in the Silvestre sale in Paris on 16 November 1778 (they were 32cm. high and therefore smaller than the present pair), and again in 1788 in another Paris sale.
The present bronzes are intriguing casts of the more unusual of the four Coureurs, and successfully capture the sense of movement and classicism of the marble garden figures.
Guillaume Coustou (1677-1746) completed his figure of Hippomenes in 1712 and his figure of Daphne in 1714. His brother Nicolas (1658-1733) executed the Apollo from 1711 to 1714. As a set of four, the Coureurs were placed on an island in the middle of the Bassin des Carpes at Marly. Each stood on an elegant scrolling pedestal base and was symmetrically arranged with its respective partner. They were all moved during the Revolution to the Gardens of the Tuileries, and later stored in the Louvre.
The present bronze Atalanta is an almost identical reduction of Lepautre's marble, though the original apple has become a baton in her left hand. The bronze Hippomenes, on the other hand, varies quite considerably from Coustou's marble; the opposite arms are raised, the head is turned to the right, the apple is held in the lowered right hand and the drapery over his shoulder billows in a large arc. Souchal (op. cit.) records that two bronze reductions of this pair of Coureurs were included as number 160 in the Silvestre sale in Paris on 16 November 1778 (they were 32cm. high and therefore smaller than the present pair), and again in 1788 in another Paris sale.
The present bronzes are intriguing casts of the more unusual of the four Coureurs, and successfully capture the sense of movement and classicism of the marble garden figures.