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A Roman Marble Figure of Sleeping Eros with the Attributes of Herakles, Circa late 1st Century A.D.
Description
- A Roman Marble Figure of Sleeping Eros with the Attributes of Herakles
- Marble
- Length 31 in. 78.7 cm.
Provenance
French private collection, Paris, acquired in the early 1980s
Condition
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
The two versions thought to be closest to the original Hellenistic prototype are in a private collection in Bergamo and in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, inv. no. I 1426 (K. Lange, Der Schlafende Amor des Michelangelo, Leipzig, 1898, illus. p. 22 and fig. 2, respectively). Another example, once at Whitehall in London (see the late 17th Century drawing in Lange, op. cit., p. 52, upper left corner) is thought to have to have been lost in a fire and might have been the famous fake Sleeping Cupid created by Michelangelo in 1496 when he was 20 years old. Yet another version once thought to be Michelangelo's creation, this one clearly not ancient, is in Turin (see Lange, op. cit, p. 19, and C.M. Brown, "The Erstwhile Michelangelo Sleeping Cupid in the Turin Museo di Antichità," Journal of the History of Collections, vol. 5/1, 1993, pp. 59-63).