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拍品專文
In the Biblical book of Ruth, it is related how the eponymous young Moabite woman, great-grandmother of David, was married to a Hebrew immigrant in Moab. After his premature death, she left her native land and went with her mother-in-law, Naomi, to Bethlehem. There she was allowed to glean wheat in fields belonging to Boaz, a rich farmer and kinsman of Naomi. Maintaining a modest demeanour among the men working the harvest, Ruth, one night, went to lay at the feet of Boaz as he slept. By this act Boaz saw her virtue and in due course the two were married.
Of all the romanticized depictions of Old Testament heroines, Ruth gleaning was perhaps the most popular subject. In fact, the 19th century American author and Italian art collector, James Jackson Jarves, spoke of a prevalent "Ruth fever". Other fine examples of the subject include a similar version by Professore Rossi produced for the prolific Galleria Bazzanti in Florence and the celebrated version by Randolph Rogers shown at the Philadelphia International Exhibition in 1876.
Pasquale Romanelli was a pupil of Luigi Pampaloni and Lorenzo Bartolini in Florence. He subsequently became Bartolini's collaborator and continued his studio on the latter's death. Romanelli achieved notoriety in his own right, executing numerous public monuments in his native Italy and exhibited both in Paris and London. He was particularly renowned for his sensuous treatment of mythological, allegorical and biblical female figures. A figure of Ruth was exhibited by Romanelli at the Paris Salon in 1851. It is not clear, however, whether the present marble is an identical version to the earlier work, or a re-interpretation of the same theme. The time difference between the two works suggests that it is probably the latter.
Another example of the present model, on pedestal, was sold in these rooms, 29 October 2003, lot 131 ($59,750).
Of all the romanticized depictions of Old Testament heroines, Ruth gleaning was perhaps the most popular subject. In fact, the 19th century American author and Italian art collector, James Jackson Jarves, spoke of a prevalent "Ruth fever". Other fine examples of the subject include a similar version by Professore Rossi produced for the prolific Galleria Bazzanti in Florence and the celebrated version by Randolph Rogers shown at the Philadelphia International Exhibition in 1876.
Pasquale Romanelli was a pupil of Luigi Pampaloni and Lorenzo Bartolini in Florence. He subsequently became Bartolini's collaborator and continued his studio on the latter's death. Romanelli achieved notoriety in his own right, executing numerous public monuments in his native Italy and exhibited both in Paris and London. He was particularly renowned for his sensuous treatment of mythological, allegorical and biblical female figures. A figure of Ruth was exhibited by Romanelli at the Paris Salon in 1851. It is not clear, however, whether the present marble is an identical version to the earlier work, or a re-interpretation of the same theme. The time difference between the two works suggests that it is probably the latter.
Another example of the present model, on pedestal, was sold in these rooms, 29 October 2003, lot 131 ($59,750).