Lorenzo Bartolini (1777-1850) Italian, Carrara, circa 1810

with Tomasso Brothers Ltd., Leeds, 2008

Scultura. Tomasso Brothers Fine Art, London, 2008, p. 148, no. 43

Overall the condition of the marble is very good with some dirt and minor wear to the surface consistent with age, with some particular dirt in the crevices of the hair and around the truncation. There is a scratch along the throat. There is some very faint naturally occurring veining visible on the surface, including an area at the very front edge of the truncation, and a line at the proper right shoulder. There are a few minor naturally occurring inclusions, including one to the chest, one to the proper left cheekbone, and a few to the front of the socle. There are a few minor chips around the edge of the truncation, to the hair just to the right of the centre, and to the edge of the socle. There is some red pigment to the area where the socle and the bust join. The monograms are applied to the top of the socle and the underside of the bust. When the socle and the bust are put together, they are therefore out of sight. There is substantial wear around the edge of the top of the socle and the edge of the underside of the bust because the socle and the bust have been taken apart repeatedly.
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As well as being the most highly esteemed Italian sculptor of the generation after Canova, Lorenzo Bartolini was famously a staunch supporter of Napoleon and the Emperor’s favourite sculptor. Following his training and early career in Paris, Bartolini was appointed by the Emperor in 1807 to direct the Accademia di Carrara, which was under the control of Napoleon’s sister, Elisa Baciocchi. Bartolini had already completed a bust of Napoleon for the column in the Place Vêndome, and his principal task in Carrara became to produce and direct the portraiture of the Bonaparte family. Carrara was deemed the ideal place for such a production centre due to the exceptional quality of its marble which, together with Bartolini’s elegant approach to Neoclassicism, naturally appealed to a ruler wishing to create a persuasive political image that followed in the tradition of Roman Emperors. Bartolini remained as the quasi-official portrait sculptor to the Bonapartes until after the fall of Napoleon. He eventually settled in Florence and enjoyed wide-ranging patronage of foreign, largely British clientele.

The present portrait bust is dependent from a model by Antonio Canova, of which the prime version is at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire. Canova’s model, dated to circa 1805, depicts the Emperor in the prime of his life, with youthful, idealised features broken up by a furrowed brow and a fierce expression. Instead of being a mere workshop copy by either Canova’s or Bartolini’s assistants, the present version is monogrammed by Lorenzo Bartolini himself. It is therefore a rare example of the master copying a work by his great artistic predecessor. Bartolini’s authorship is consistent with the refined execution of the bust, which creates a subtly powerful image of a divine ruler. 

RELATED LITERATURE
M. Praz, L'opera completa del Canova, Milan, 1976, p. 109, no. 142; B. Musetti, 'Lorenzo Bartolini and the Banca Elisiana, or the "Sculpture Factory"', Lorenzo Bartolini. Beauty and Truth in Marble, exh. cat. Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence, 2011, pp. 147-151