Lot Essay
This 'antique' altar is based upon the tripod stand discovered in the Temple of Isis at Pompeii and now in the Museo Archeologico, Naples. This celebrated stand, widely copied during the 19th Century, served as the model for the baptismal fonts by Luigi and Francesco Monfradini, one a present to the Empress Marie-Louise by the city of Milan in 1811, the other for the King of Rome in 1813, ('The Age of NeoClassicism', Exhibition Catalogue, London, 1972, pl. XII, no. 1828).
The workshop of the celebrated Roman bronze-founder Benedetto Boschetti (d.1870), established in the via Condotti around 1820, was celebrated for being 'particularly conspicuous for its great variety of marble works, bronzes, candelabras, table-tops etc.', as well as a 'rich collection of the best mosaics'.
The workshop of the celebrated Roman bronze-founder Benedetto Boschetti (d.1870), established in the via Condotti around 1820, was celebrated for being 'particularly conspicuous for its great variety of marble works, bronzes, candelabras, table-tops etc.', as well as a 'rich collection of the best mosaics'.