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Lot Essay
Barye's second and final mythological work, Thésée combattant le Centaure Biénor was inspired by passages from Book XII of Ovid's Metamorphoses. Barye depicts the young hero calmly pinning down the centaur's head, a motif borrowed from Giambologna's marble Hercules killing Nessus of 1594 (in the Loggia dei Lanzi, Florence), while he ready's himself to inflict the death blow. Bienor's agony is well conveyed by his spasmically extended foreleg and grimacing face.
The present lot is a cast of the sketch model (dating from 1846-8) for the final half-life-size version of Thésée combattant le centaure Biénor, conceived in 1849 and exhibited at the Salon the following year. In the finished work, the extended foreleg and tail of the centaur are retracted somewhat, whilst foliage is added to the remodelled rocky base. The sketch model was first offered in Barye's 1857-8 catalogue, although Poletti and Richarme think it likely a number of épreuves signed A. L. BARYE (as here) were cast in the early 1850s.
A fine épreuve ancienne of this model, formerly in the collection of Eduardo Guinle (d. 1941), was sold in these rooms, 25 April 2003, lot 144 ($57,360).
The present lot is a cast of the sketch model (dating from 1846-8) for the final half-life-size version of Thésée combattant le centaure Biénor, conceived in 1849 and exhibited at the Salon the following year. In the finished work, the extended foreleg and tail of the centaur are retracted somewhat, whilst foliage is added to the remodelled rocky base. The sketch model was first offered in Barye's 1857-8 catalogue, although Poletti and Richarme think it likely a number of épreuves signed A. L. BARYE (as here) were cast in the early 1850s.
A fine épreuve ancienne of this model, formerly in the collection of Eduardo Guinle (d. 1941), was sold in these rooms, 25 April 2003, lot 144 ($57,360).