AFTER THE ANTIQUE, ITALIAN, 18TH CENTURY

Details

A BRONZE MODEL OF THE APOLLINO
AFTER THE ANTIQUE, ITALIAN, 18TH CENTURY
Depicted standing in contrapposto with his right arm held above his head and his left arm resting on a tree trunk; on an integrally cast circular plinth; greenish brown patina with lighter high points
24 7/8 in. (63.3 cm.) high

Literature

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
G. Mansuelli, Galleria degli Uffizi - Le Sculture, Rome, 1961, I and II, 46 a-b.
F. Haskell and N. Penny, Taste and the Antique - The Lure of Classical Sculpture 1500-1900, New Haven and London, 1981, pp. 146-7, no. 7.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

The antique original of the Apollino on which the present bronze is based, is recorded with certainty in the Villa Medici, Rome, in 1704. As with a large number of antiquities acquired by the Medici in Rome, this marble was later transferred to Florence in circa 1769 and by 1770 was placed in the Tribuna at the Uffizi. Like the Wrestlers the marble was moved to Palermo in 1800 to escape being looted by the occupying French. It was restored to Florence in 1803. In 1806, Denon incredulously commented that the figure was a masterpiece of antique sculpture and a much needed addition for the Musée Napoléon.

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