An Italian white marble figure of the Farnese Flora, on a pedestal

AFTER THE ANTIQUE, CIRCA 1810-1820

Details

An Italian white marble figure of the Farnese Flora, on a pedestal
After the Antique, Circa 1810-1820
Standing in classical robes, holding drapery in her right hand, a sprig of flowers in the left hand, on a square base, on an associated composite stone pedestal, surmounted by a square stepped platform, each side centred by a patera, on a stepped moulded base
The figure: 57 in. (145 cm.) high
The pedestal: 35 in. (89 cm.) high; 19 in. (49.5 cm.) square

Provenance

The Roger Family, Yockley, Hertfordshire; then Dundonnell, Near Ullapool, Scotland, sold Sotheby's, London, 28-30 January 1998, Lot 1171.

Literature

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
F. Haskell and N. Penny, Taste and the Antique - the Lure of Classical Sculpture, London, 1981, no. 41

Lot Essay

This replica of the Roman flower-bearing Spring deity known as the 'Flora Farnese' was formerly in the courtyard of the Palazzo Farnese, Rome. At one time the celebrated figure was attributed to the hand of Praxitiles. Sent to Naples in l800, it is now displayed there in the Museo Nazionale.

Although the delicate proportions of the present figure tend to suggest a dating in the late 18th century, the presence of a nosegay in the figure's left hand as opposed to a wreath, places it after the figure's restoration by Taglioni, which is thought to have been in the years immediately before 1819 (Haskell and Penny, loc. cit.).

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