Venus de' Medici, lifesize

Details

PIETRO BAZZANTI (ITALIAN, 1825-1895), AFTER THE ANTIQUE
Venus de' Medici, lifesize
signed 'P. Bazzanti/ Florence'
white marble
63 in. (160 cm.) high; 18 in. (45.5 cm.) wide; 17 ½ in. (44.5 cm.) deep
Circa 1890.

Special notice

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Sale room notice

Please note that this marble is by Pietro Bazzanti, bears his signature, and dates circa 1890, and not as stated in the printed catalogue.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Paul Gallois

pgallois@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2260

Lot Essay

Although first documented in 1638, when she was recorded in a book of engravings of the most beautiful antique statues in Rome, the Venus was almost certainly known in the 16th century. Today some scholars believe that the marble is a first century B.C. copy of of an earlier bronze. (Haskell and Penny, Taste and the Antique, New Haven, 1981, pp. 326-328)
Originally housed in the Villa Medici, the marble was transferred to Florence in 1677, and by 1688 had taken pride of place in the Tribuna of the Uffizi. When Napoleon's armies were threatening Italy, it was among the treasures moved to the south of Italy for safe keeping, but it was eventually claimed by the French and was shipped to Paris where it remained between 1803 and 1815. After Napoleon's defeat, it was returned to the Tribuna of the Uffizi in Florence, where it remains today.

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