Lot 32
  • 32

A Marble Torso of Meleager as the Hunter of the Calydonian Boar, Roman Imperial, circa 2nd century A.D.

Estimate
150,000 - 250,000 USD
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Description

  • A Marble Torso of Meleager as the Hunter of the Calydonian Boar, Roman Imperial
  • marble
  • Height 34 1/4 in. 87 cm.
after the 5th century sculpture by Skopas of Paros, standing with the weight on his right leg and fragmentary hand resting behind his right hip with the palm up, and wearing a chlamys fastened with a brooch on the right shoulder and draped over the left arm, a boar spear formerly held in his left hand vertically against the shoulder, a puntello on the left hip; the extremities formerly restored in marble.

Provenance

Lucienne and Antoine Perpitch, 3 rue Paul Louis-Courier, Paris, acquired prior to 1968
Galerie Liova, Paris, 2006

Condition

As shown, surface was vigorously cleaned, mechanically as well as with acid, which explains the disappearance of certain details such as the pubic hair, there is an old metal clamp (probably ancient) inserted into the top of proper let shoulder in order to stabilize a stress crack, note deep gashes on proper right shoulder.
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.

Catalogue Note

"Meleager was a young hunter who led a band of men and his beloved Atalanta against a great wild boar that was ravaging the countryside of Calydon. Meleager killed the beast, but a quarrel over the spoils ensued and the youthful hero killed his mother's brothers. His mother, Althea, proceded to engineer hers son's death by burning a branch that had beeen the means to his immortality" (C. Vermeule, in Ancient Art at The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, 1994, p. 67).

As a previously unknown Roman version of Skopas'  Meleager the present torso can be added to the list of recorded Roman copies of this work (see A.F. Stewart, Skopas of Paros, Park Ridge, New Jersey, 1977, pp. 142-144).

The most complete version of the Meleager is in the Vatican Museums (A. Stewart, Greek Sculpture, New Haven & London, 1990, vol. II, fig. 549; Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae, vol. V.2, Munich, 1992, p. 208, no. 1) and has been one of the most admired classical sculptures since its discovery in the 16th Century (see F. Haskell and N. Penny, Taste and the Antique, New Haven, 1982, no 60, p. 263-266): it shows the hunter standing against a tree support next to a seated dog on his right, and with a boar's head atop a craggy outcrop on his left.

Photo 3 shows a marble figure of Meleager, Roman Imperial, mid 2nd Century A.D., Vatican Museums, Museo Pio Clementino, Sala degli Animali, inv. No. 490 (D-DAI-Rom Vat 0082).