AFTER JOHANN HEINRICH VON DANNECKER (1758-1841), ITALIAN, 19TH CENTURY | ARIADNE ON THE PANTHER

Ariadne on the Panther is undoubtedly the most famous model executed by Dannecker, court sculptor to the Dukes of Württemberg, and was widely copied during the 19th century. There are accounts dating back to 1805, of visitors queueing outside Dannecker's studio in order to see the widely discussed model in plaster. The prime version in marble, finished in 1814, is in the Liebieghaus Museum in Frankfurt (inv. no. 1569) - it was heavily damaged in World War II and has been restored. Curiously, Dannecker appears to have conceived the model without a commission, and is therefore indicative of his creativity and inventiveness as a sculptor. 

RELATED LITERATURE

C. von Holst, Johann Heinrich Dannecker, Stuttgart, 1987, cat. nos. 100 and 101, pp. 285-94