A bronze group of the Laocoon

BY FRANCESCO (1749-1819) AND LUIGI RIGHETTI (1780-1852), CIRCA 1815

Details

A bronze group of the Laocoon
By Francesco (1749-1819) and Luigi Righetti (1780-1852), circa 1815
On an integrally cast base inscribed across the front FRANC. RIGHETTI.ET.ALOYS.FIL.ROMA.FUNDE.CAM.FEC.'
Warm dark brown patina.
14 5/8 in. (37.1 cm.) high

Literature

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
F. Haskell and N. Penny, Taste and the Antique - The Lure of Classical Sculpture 1500-1900, New Haven and London, 1981, pp. 243-7, fig. 125.
J. Turner ed., Macmillan Dictionary of Art, London, 1996, XXVI, p. 389 (entry on Righetti by Alison Luchs).

Lot Essay

From the time of its dramatic discovery on 14 January 1506 on the property of Felice de'Freddi near Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, virtually in the presence of Michelangelo, the Laocoon has ranked as one of the most celebrated, most admired, and most imitated of all ancient marbles (Haskell and Penny, loc. cit.). It was acquired by Pope Julius II soon after its excavation, and moved to the Belvedere, where it has remained - with a Napoleonic interlude in Paris from 1800 to 1815 - ever since. In Francesco Righetti's sale catalogue of his small bronzes of 1794, the 'Laocon de Belvedere' is recorded as retailing at 60 zecchini (Haskell and Penny, op. cit., p. 343). The present example is of exceptional interest, because it is jointly signed by Francesco and his son Luigi, the former describing himself as the head of the Vatican foundry, a post to which he was appointed by Pius VII in 1805, when the original was not available in Rome. Another signed Laocoon by Righetti is in the Musée des Beaux-Arts et d'Archéologie in Besançon.

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