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Lot Essay
The present figure of Flora is a faithful, reduction of a Roman antique figure, which is itself a reproduction of a 4th century BC Greek prototype. While today the model is known as the Farnese Flora, she has also been called The Courtesan, Erato, Hope and Terpsichore to name a few. Some of these names must have derived from the enticing image of the classically beautiful woman in clearly transparent costume - a dress more appropriate for a courtesan.
The fact that the marble has been identified as one of the two muses, Erato or Terpsichorde, is also an example of how the image has been recycled to suit particular artists' desires or patrons' demands. Painters such as Rembrandt and Titian famously portrayed their wives and mistresses (or muses) in the goddess's guise; holding a bouquet or wearing a garland of flowers, and in the latter case seductively revealing her left breast. Just Antonio Canova depicted Paolina Borghese as Venus Vintrix, inspiring an image of a woman who is highly seductive but also all powerful, the image of Flora accentuats a woman's seductiveness and beauty while also instilling an idea of rebirth - with her attributes of flowers.
The fact that the marble has been identified as one of the two muses, Erato or Terpsichorde, is also an example of how the image has been recycled to suit particular artists' desires or patrons' demands. Painters such as Rembrandt and Titian famously portrayed their wives and mistresses (or muses) in the goddess's guise; holding a bouquet or wearing a garland of flowers, and in the latter case seductively revealing her left breast. Just Antonio Canova depicted Paolina Borghese as Venus Vintrix, inspiring an image of a woman who is highly seductive but also all powerful, the image of Flora accentuats a woman's seductiveness and beauty while also instilling an idea of rebirth - with her attributes of flowers.