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Lot Essay
These busts, carved on an impressive scale, appear to depict the god Apollo and the Cumaean Sybil. The identification of the latter is supported by the cloth she wears on the back of her head, a typical depiction for the prophetess. Apollo was enamoured of the Sybil and offered her as many years of life as the grains of sand she could hold in her hand in return for her affections. She refused his advances so Apollo granted her long life, but not the youth to go with it and she withered away until she was only left with her voice.
The luxuriant carving of the hair on the present busts is an echo of the work of Gianlorenzo Bernini and suggests an origin in Baroque Rome. Among the many talented sculptors working there, it is perhaps the oeuvre of Francesco Maratti (active 1686-1719) that shows the strongest stylistic similarities. In particular, the angel from his marble group of St. Francis de Sale (1697-99, Monasterio de la Visitazione, Rome) has the same square jaw, small mouth, delicately indicated eyebrows and incised eyes (illustrated in Enggass, op. cit., figs 81a and b). The drapery, with its thick folds, is also highly reminiscent.
The luxuriant carving of the hair on the present busts is an echo of the work of Gianlorenzo Bernini and suggests an origin in Baroque Rome. Among the many talented sculptors working there, it is perhaps the oeuvre of Francesco Maratti (active 1686-1719) that shows the strongest stylistic similarities. In particular, the angel from his marble group of St. Francis de Sale (1697-99, Monasterio de la Visitazione, Rome) has the same square jaw, small mouth, delicately indicated eyebrows and incised eyes (illustrated in Enggass, op. cit., figs 81a and b). The drapery, with its thick folds, is also highly reminiscent.