TOMASSO: The More a Thing is Perfect
TOMASSO: The More a Thing is Perfect
Italian, Rome, circa 1800, After the Antique
Tomb of Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus
Lot Closed
April 29, 03:24 PM GMT
Estimate
4,000 - 6,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Italian, Rome, circa 1800
After the Antique
Tomb of Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus
marble, with red painted inlaid lettering
inscribed: L. CORNELOS. CN. F. SCIPIO / CORNELIVS. LVCIVS. SCIPIO. BARBATVS.GNAIVOD. PATRE. / PROGNATVS. FORTIS. VIR. SAPIENSQVE - QVOIVS. FORMA. VIRTVTEI. PARISVMA. / FVIT - CONSOL. CENSOR. AIDILIS. QVEI. FVIT. APVD. VOS - TAVRASIA. CISAVNA. / SAMNIO. CEPIT - SVBIGIT. OMNE. LOVCANA. OPSIDESQVE. ABDOVCIT.
25 by 46 by 19 cm., 9⅞ by 18⅛ by 7½ in.
E. Tarizzo et al., Il Grand Tour, cat. Tomasso Brothers Fine Art, London, 2014, pp. 64-65, no. 29
The sarcophagus of Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus, Roman consul and victor over the Etruscans at the Battle of Volterra in 298 BC, was rediscovered in 1780 as the only intact survival within the Tomb of the Scipios on the Via Appia. It gained instant fame and became an iconic emblem of the Grand Tour, as exemplified in this finely carved marble reduction. The sarcophagus is now held in the Museo Pio Clementino in the Vatican.
The main epitaph recorded in the inscription has been translated as: 'Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus, the son of Gnaeus, a courageous and wise man, whose beauty was as great as his manliness, was consul, censor and aedile in your country. He conquered Taurasia and Cisauna, in the Samnium, and subjugated the whole of Lucania, bringing back hostages.'
The main epitaph recorded in the inscription has been translated as: 'Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus, the son of Gnaeus, a courageous and wise man, whose beauty was as great as his manliness, was consul, censor and aedile in your country. He conquered Taurasia and Cisauna, in the Samnium, and subjugated the whole of Lucania, bringing back hostages.'