R. Bigazzi

carved white marble, signed Artistio Ateliers / R. Bigazzi / Florence (Italy), the marble group raised on a portor marble plinth and centered with a bronze plaque titled DRUNKEN BACCHANTE.

Overall in good condition with some light traces of dirt. The sculpture has been cleaned rendering a strong white color. Restoration to the group located on the front left hand side including the whole tip of her right foot and the right corner of the base. Traces of restoration to her left hand holding the cymbal. Very good presentation.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Like many other late nineteenth-century sculptors, Bigazzi often took inspiration from classical antiquity, as with this Drunken Bacchante, spent from her revelry yet still a beautiful vision lying on an animal skin, her tambourine about to fall from her hand.  The present model is based less on an acknowledged academic example and relies much more on the artist's imaginative idealization of sensual female curves and a sly smile.  Though an erotic subject, this work in white marble also demonstrates a high technical virtuosity, particularly in Bigazzi's mastery of facial expression and modeling of form. Yet as portrayed in both Greek and Roman mythology, these women were normally anything but gentle, at-rest creatures.  Bacchantes were female worshippers of Bacchus, the Roman god of wine and mystery (in Greek mythology, the equivalent God and worshippers were Dionysus and his Maenads).  In literature of the time, they were portrayed as irrational, often crazed acolytes prone to ecstatic fits, bizarre mountaintop rituals and bouts of riotous, destructive abandon: excessive intoxication, self-mutilation, even murder.  Such abnormal behavior often served as a didactic example of the dangerous, intoxicating effects of alcohol.  In Euripides' play The Bacchae, bacchantes viciously murder the king -literally tearing him limb from limb in the forest--after he bans the worship of their beloved god.