Antoine-Louis Barye French, 1796 - 1875

bronze, signed BARYE, inscribed F.BARBEDIENNE. Fondeur. and with the gold COLLECTION F. BARBEDIENNE PARIS pastille, incised number 43 to the underside

R. Ballu, L'Oeuvre de Barye, Paris, 1890, p.91

G. Benge, Antoine-Louis Barye, Sculptor of Romantic Realism, Pennsylvania, 1984, pp.116-118

M. Poletti and A. Richarme, Barye, Catalogue raisonné des sculptures, Paris, 2000, p. 108 no. F32

Fine condition overall, unevenness and rubbing to patina consistent with age and handling, joint on Theseus' arm showing but tight.
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"One of Barye's most masterful works and certainly one of the masterpieces of French sculpture" (R. Ballu, 1890).

Barye based the figure of Theseus on a drawing by Henry Fuseli of an executioner which was taken in turn from a fresco of the Beheading of John the Baptist by Andrea del Sarto in the Monastero dello Scalzo, Florence. Further inspiration comes from a sheet of drawings of boxers by Géricault. The strictly archaic Greek Theseus, his hair stylised and linear and legs planted firmly apart, makes a composed combatant for the more romantically conceived minotaur. The contrast subtly underlines the triumph of good over evil.

Barye later refined his 1843 model, producing a second version with a different base. At the 1876 vente Barye the bronze and plaster model of this second version was one of the most keenly contested lots, eventually being sold to Goupil with the intention of being edited by Barbedienne. The present cast is a rare edition marked with the Collection F. Barbedienne pastille, considered to have been used in the years immediately following Barye's death. Another example, slightly smaller than the present lot, also cast by Barbedienne and with Collection F. Barbedienne gold seal, was sold Sotheby's New York, 4th November 2010 lot 61 ($92,000).