AFTER PIERRE LEGROS, ITALIAN, CIRCA 1722

细节

A BRONZE FIGURE OF MARSYAS
AFTER PIERRE LEGROS, ITALIAN, CIRCA 1722
Depicted bound to a tree stump with his pipes at his feet; on an integrally cast naturalistic base; medium brown patina
24 7/8 in. (63.2 cm.) high

来源

One of the 13 bronzes purchased by Thomas, 1st Earl of Macclesfield, 15 July 1723 for a total of £300.
Thence by descent at Shirburn Castle.

出版

T. P. Connor, 'The fruits of a Grand Tour - Edward Wright and Lord Parker in Italy, 1720-22', in Apollo, July 1998, pp. 23-30.

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
F. Souchal, French Sculptors of the 17th and 18th centuries - The reign of Louis XIV, II, Oxford, 1981, pp. 298-299, no. 42, IV, London, 1993, 148-149, no. 42.

注意事项

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.

拍品专文

Related in the Metamorphosis, the present group depicts a scene from the story of the musical contest between Apollo and the satyr Marsyas. Marsyas, who chanced upon a cursed set of pipes, was so proud of his skill playing them that he angered the god Apollo. The latter challenged him to a contest and when Marsyas lost, his punishment was to be flayed alive, tied to a pine tree.

The composition is convincingly attributed to Pierre Le Gros the Younger (1666-1719) and the present bronze group plays an important part in the confirmation of this attribution. Although other examples exist in marble and bronze (for a list of these examples see Souchal, loc. cit.), the present example, which is referred to in a list of 1723 among the Macclesfield papers as 'Marsyas - Mons de Gros [sic]' is the earliest known reference to its authorship.