AN ITALIAN BRONZE FIGURE OF NARCISSUS, after the Antique, cast by the Gemito foundry, the naked youth standing, with vines in his hair, a goat skin over his left shoulder and wearing ornate sandals, on a circular stepped base inscribed PROPIETA ARTISTICA and stamped FONDEUR GEMITO NAPOLI and the numbers 52, late 19th Century

AN ITALIAN BRONZE FIGURE OF NARCISSUS, after the Antique, cast by the Gemito foundry, the naked youth standing, with vines in his hair, a goat skin over his left shoulder and wearing ornate sandals, on a circular stepped base inscribed PROPIETA ARTISTICA and stamped FONDEUR GEMITO NAPOLI and the numbers 52, late 19th Century

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AN ITALIAN BRONZE FIGURE OF NARCISSUS, after the Antique, cast by the Gemito foundry, the naked youth standing, with vines in his hair, a goat skin over his left shoulder and wearing ornate sandals, on a circular stepped base inscribed PROPIETA ARTISTICA and stamped FONDEUR GEMITO NAPOLI and the numbers 52, late 19th Century

10in. (25.5cm.) diameter at base; 24¾in. (62.8cm.) high

Lot Essay

Vincenzo Gemmito was born in Naples in 1852 . He spent many years in France and exhibited in the salon from 1879 to the end of the century, winning a third class medal in 1879 and a second class the following year. He was awarded the Grand Prix at the Expositions of 1889 and 1990. On his return to Naples from Paris in 1881 he turned to studying the antique sculpture there. It is not surprising therefore that he was soon making copies of 'Narcissus' which had been discovered in a Pompeian House as late as 1862 and was thought to be one of the finest bronzes ever discovered at Pompeii and one of the finest pieces in the collection of the Museo Nationale. Although known as Narcissus some scholars have felt that it may actually be the figure of Dionysius on account of the vine wreath and the nebrid.

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