AN ITALIAN WHITE MARBLE FIGURE OF PAOLINA BORGHESE, by C.Fossi, after the model by Canova, shown reclining on a day bed, nude to her breasts, her hair tied with a ribbon to her forehead and her right hand to her head and holding an apple in her left hand, leaning on two cushions with tasseled corners, with her drapery across her legs, signed C.Fossi copied from the original in Rome (her right arm repaired at the elbow, the fingers repaired, the little finger missing, her head repaired at the neck, the little finger on her left hand missing, her big toe on her right foot missing, one cushion tassel broken and one missing), 19th Century

THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN

AN ITALIAN WHITE MARBLE FIGURE OF PAOLINA BORGHESE, by C.Fossi, after the model by Canova, shown reclining on a day bed, nude to her breasts, her hair tied with a ribbon to her forehead and her right hand to her head and holding an apple in her left hand, leaning on two cushions with tasseled corners, with her drapery across her legs, signed C.Fossi copied from the original in Rome (her right arm repaired at the elbow, the fingers repaired, the little finger missing, her head repaired at the neck, the little finger on her left hand missing, her big toe on her right foot missing, one cushion tassel broken and one missing), 19th Century

Details

AN ITALIAN WHITE MARBLE FIGURE OF PAOLINA BORGHESE, by C.Fossi, after the model by Canova, shown reclining on a day bed, nude to her breasts, her hair tied with a ribbon to her forehead and her right hand to her head and holding an apple in her left hand, leaning on two cushions with tasseled corners, with her drapery across her legs, signed C.Fossi copied from the original in Rome (her right arm repaired at the elbow, the fingers repaired, the little finger missing, her head repaired at the neck, the little finger on her left hand missing, her big toe on her right foot missing, one cushion tassel broken and one missing), 19th Century
40½in. (103cm.) wide; 19in. (48cm.) high; 13in. (33cm.) deep

Lot Essay

This marble is after the original by Antonio Canova (d.1822) modelled in gesso in 1807. The model was finished in 1808 and then titled Venus Venere Vincitrice. It represents Pauline Borghese Bonaparte, the sister of Napoleon, as Venus with the apple of Paris in her left hand. It was commissioned by her husband, the Prince Camillo Borghese and is now in the Museo Borghese, Rome.

Another by Fossi, with wooden plinth, was sold in these rooms, 28th September 1989, lot 284. An unsigned version, with wooden daybed, was sold in these rooms 30th November 1983, lot 180.

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