CIRCLE OF AGOSTINO CORNACCHINI (1686-1754), CIRCA 1720-1740

Details

A BRONZE GROUP OF NESSUS AND DEIANIRA
Circle of Agostino Cornacchini (1686-1754), circa 1720-1740
Depicting Nessus rearing, with Deianira on his back, on a later ormolu-mounted tulipwood-veneered shaped rectangular base, dark brown patina, minor casting flaws
12¼in. (31.1cm.) high, 17in. (43.2cm.) high, overall

Provenance

The Lord Astor of Hever, sold in these Rooms, 21 April 1982, lot 187.
Acquired from William Redford, London, 1986.

Literature

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
G. Pratesi, ed., Repertorio della Scultura Fiorentina del Seicento e Settecento, II, Turin, 1993, figs. 105-114.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

Lot Essay

In this group, Nessus the centaur carries off Deianira, the wife of Hercules. The attempted abduction would later seal the fate of Hercules because, although he killed Nessus, the centaur was able to trick Deianira into administering a poison to her husband which would ultimately kill him.

The bronze is part of the school of Florentine sculptors of the first half of the 18th century, and is particularly reminiscent of the work of Agostino Cornacchini, whose marble figure of Prudence in San Giovanni in Laterano (illustrated in Pratesi, op. cit., fig. 111) displays the same facial type and complex arrangement of drapery evident here.

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