Old Master Sculpture & Works of Art
Old Master Sculpture & Works of Art
Auction Closed
July 2, 02:29 PM GMT
Estimate
15,000 - 20,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
ITALIAN, 17TH/18TH CENTURY
WINGED SKULL
terracotta
30 by 42cm., 11¾ by 16½in.
C. Ricasoli, in The Living Dead: Ecclesiastes through Art, exh. cat., Paderborn, 2018, no. III.1, pp. 126-127
Washington D.C., Museum of the Bible, The Living Dead: Ecclesiastes through Art, 2017-2018
The present terracotta is likely to have been made as a model for a marble winged skull, to be placed on a monument or tomb. Skulls were very popular features in Baroque art, and were modelled with great realism - including the protruding cheekbones and some even with missing teeth - as on the present skull. Compare also with a skull and crossbones, sold in these rooms, 10 December 2015, lot 402.