Lot 300
300
A GROUP OF FOUR ITALIAN CARVED WHITE MARBLE BUSTS, EMBLEMATIC OF THE SEASONS
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A GROUP OF FOUR ITALIAN CARVED WHITE MARBLE BUSTS, EMBLEMATIC OF THE SEASONS

WORKSHOP OF GIOVANNI MARIA BENZONI (1808-1873), CIRCA 1850

Details
A GROUP OF FOUR ITALIAN CARVED WHITE MARBLE BUSTS, EMBLEMATIC OF THE SEASONS
WORKSHOP OF GIOVANNI MARIA BENZONI (1808-1873), CIRCA 1850
Spring and Summer as females, Autumn and Winter as males, each on waisted circular socles, Spring with chipped nose
Autumn: 29 in. (74 cm.) high
Winter: 29 in. (74 cm.) high
Spring: 26½ in. (67 cm.) high
Summer: 26½ in. (67 cm.) high (4)
Provenance
Possibly those executed by Benzoni for Grand Duchess Olga of Russia (d.1892).
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

The busts of the Seasons (Le Quattro Stagioni), personified by flower-wreathed Flora, corn-wreathed Ceres, vine-wreathed Bacchus and a well-wrapped male, were executed by the Rome-based sculptor Giovanni Maria Benzoni (d.1873). Photographs of his 'Seasons' inscribed as being executed for Princess Olga of Russia (d.1892), feature in the G.M. Benzoni photographic 'Album' sold Christie's South Kensington, 19 October 1995, (lot 59). It is intriguing to speculate that this might refer to Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia (September 11, 1822 - October 30, 1892), daughter of Nicholas I of Russia and Queen Charlotte of Prussia. In 1846 she married Charles I of Würtemburg at the Peterhof Palace in Russia and became Queen Consort of Würtemburg. Benzoni was patronised by many Russian aristocrats and provided sculpture for St. Petersburg's Imperial Theatre. A favoured sculptor of Pope Pius IX, he was chosen to represent the Vatican at the Antwerp International Exhibition.

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