Antonio Bottinelli

Representing the nymph Ino with her infant nephew Bacchus, the god of wine, this beautifully carved marble is closely related in composition to a group of the same subject by the Rome-based British sculptor R. J. Wyatt (1795-1850). Commissioned by Robert Peel in 1834, Wyatt's marble exists in several versions, including one at the Fitzwilliam, Museum, Cambridge. It depicts the protagonists in a similar arrangement as in the present marble, though the nymph's seated pose is more languid here, and the reclining infant is positioned on her lap, while in Wyatt's model he is standing. 

The present marble is distinguished by its astonishingly naturalistic background of bark and foliage, populated by a wealth of detail, including a lizard ascending the overgrown fragment of an ancient column. The virtuosic intricacy of carving indicates that the sculpture's anonymous author may have trained in the celebrated Milanese school of sculpture in the mid-19th century. Striking stylistic parallels for the figures, as well as the technical accomplishment of the composition, are found in the work of Antonio Bottinelli, who trained at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Milan and, from 1852, in Rome, where he eventually settled. The nymph's facial features and pleated hairstyle compare closely to Bottinelli's bust of Modestia, while the sculptor's penchant for elaborate naturalistic detail is evident throughout his oeuvre. If Bottinelli is the author of the present marble, he may well have seen a version of Wyatt's Ino and Bacchus during his time in Rome and been inspired to create his own interpretation of the subject. However in the absence of a signature, the possibility that it was carved by sculptor from Bottinelli's circle cannot be excluded.