AFTER FRANCESCO FANELLI, 17TH CENTURY

細節

A BRONZE GROUP OF CUPID ON A DOLPHIN
AFTER FRANCESCO FANELLI, 17TH CENTURY
Depicted drawing his bow, now lacking; on a later oval gilt-bronze plinth inscribed in red on the underside with the inventory number '290' and a spreading oval ebonised wood base; medium brown patina
3 1/8 in. (8 cm.) high; 5 in. (12.7 cm.) high, overall

來源

Purchased by Alfred (1853-1906) or Otto Beit (1865-1930) between 1904 and 1913.
Thence by descent to Lady (Clementine) Beit (1915-2005) by whom donated to the Alfred Beit Foundation in 2005.

出版

W. Bode, Catalogue of the Collection of Pictures and Bronzes in the Possession of Mr. Otto Beit, London, 1913, p. 117, no. 290, as 'Italian, probably Florentine'.

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
J. Pope-Hennessy, 'Some Bronze Statuettes by Francesco Fanelli', reprinted in Essays on Italian Sculpture, New York and London, 1968, pp. 166-171.
P. Wengraf, 'Francesco Fanelli & Sons in Italy and London, on a Grander Scale', in European Bronzes from the Quentin Collection, New York, 2004, pp. 30-53.

注意事項

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.

拍品專文

This bronze group of Cupid riding on a dolphin is also known in a variant version where Cupid is depicted standing (for an example of this model see lot 175). The dolphin recalls the birth of Cupid's mother, Venus, from the sea, thus re-inforcing the message of love and fertility.

The attribution of the composition to Francesco Fanelli, court sculptor to Charles I of England, is based on the figure's similarity to the Cupid riding on the back of a running horse, also attributed to the artist. That model is included in an inventory of the king's collection at Whitehall where it is described as being by 'ffrancisco the one eyed Italian' (quoted in Pope-Hennessy, op. cit., p. 166, the model appears as fig. 198).

For a general discussion of Fanelli's work in the Beit collection, see the pre-lot text to lot 172.