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Lot Essay
Villa Ludovisi in Rome, originally established in the early 17th century by Cardinal Ludovico Ludovisi, was one of the most celebrated villas of the Baroque era. Built on the site of Julius Caesar’s gardens on the Pincian Hill, the villa became renowned not only for its architectural beauty but also for its extraordinary collection of antiquities. A passionate patron of the arts, Cardinal Ludovisi assembled one of the finest private collections of ancient Roman sculptures, many of which were excavated from the grounds of the villa itself. Masterpieces such as the Ludovisi Throne and the Ludovisi Ares exemplify the collection’s importance.
Villa Ludovisi was sold in 1885 by the Boncompagni Ludovisi family, descendants of the original Ludovisi line. Facing financial difficulties, they sold the vast estate to the Società Generale Immobiliare, leading to the creation of the modern Ludovisi quarter in Rome. The villa's celebrated art and antiquities collection was gradually dispersed.
When Theodor Schreiber wrote the catalogue of ancient art in Villa Ludovisi in 1880, the present torso (no. 247a.b.) was in the 'Chiesuola', a small building once used as a chapel for Villa Altieri on Via di Porta Salaria. It had been restored as a Bacchus, adding an ancient but not belonging head, with locks falling over the shoulders, and two arms holding grapes.
When the torso subsequently entered the collection of Belgian politician Léon de Somzée (1837-1901) the added arms were removed, together with the Bacchus head and the restoration of the locks of hair falling over the shoulders (see Furtwängler 1897, pl. XV). Furtwängler suggests that this torso was likely a representation of the Trojan prince Paris, a copy of an original by the 4th century B.C. sculptor Euphranor and described by Pliny. For a complete example of the same type see a statue of Paris formerly in the Lansdowne collection and now in the Louvre, cf. E. Angelicoussis, Reconstructing the Lansdowne Collection of Classical Marbles, vol. II, 2017, Munich, pp. 92-97, no. 10.
Villa Ludovisi was sold in 1885 by the Boncompagni Ludovisi family, descendants of the original Ludovisi line. Facing financial difficulties, they sold the vast estate to the Società Generale Immobiliare, leading to the creation of the modern Ludovisi quarter in Rome. The villa's celebrated art and antiquities collection was gradually dispersed.
When Theodor Schreiber wrote the catalogue of ancient art in Villa Ludovisi in 1880, the present torso (no. 247a.b.) was in the 'Chiesuola', a small building once used as a chapel for Villa Altieri on Via di Porta Salaria. It had been restored as a Bacchus, adding an ancient but not belonging head, with locks falling over the shoulders, and two arms holding grapes.
When the torso subsequently entered the collection of Belgian politician Léon de Somzée (1837-1901) the added arms were removed, together with the Bacchus head and the restoration of the locks of hair falling over the shoulders (see Furtwängler 1897, pl. XV). Furtwängler suggests that this torso was likely a representation of the Trojan prince Paris, a copy of an original by the 4th century B.C. sculptor Euphranor and described by Pliny. For a complete example of the same type see a statue of Paris formerly in the Lansdowne collection and now in the Louvre, cf. E. Angelicoussis, Reconstructing the Lansdowne Collection of Classical Marbles, vol. II, 2017, Munich, pp. 92-97, no. 10.