Italian, 19th century

Bearing the signature 'L. Bartolini', this sensual group of Leda and the Swan is related to mythological nudes by the great neoclassical sculptor Lorenzo Bartolini, but is unrecorded in Mario Tinti’s monograph. The present group differs from Bartolini’s other mythological nudes in its greater affinities with works by Clodion. The attention given to the treatment of the naturalistic base and drapery, and above all, the heightened eroticism, are all at variance with Bartolini’s other nudes. Only Bartolini’s Amore e Venere (illustrated op. cit., fig. XVIII) has a similar combination of a double figure group with greater attention given to the mis en scène.

A plaster version of the present model bearing the same signature was sold in these rooms on 8 December 2006 (lot 136).

RELATED LITERATURE

M. Tinti, Lorenzo Bartolini, vol. 2, Rome, 1936, pp. 21-4, fig. XVIII