Italian, probably Naples, circa 1800

Artcurial, Paris, 8 July 2014, lot 39;

Where acquired by the present owner

The present bronze derives from the famous marble statue discovered in the Baths of Caracalla in 1545. In 1546, the antique came into the possession of the Pope’s family in the Farnese palace in Rome, where it was partially restored, as advised by Michelangelo, in 1550. The group underwent a second restoration by Gian Battista Bianchi circa 1580. A part of the Farnese collection of antique marbles, including the Farnese Bull, was transferred to Naples in 1788 and later placed in the Museo Nazionale, where it is still housed today. The Farnese Bull was much admired and frequently reproduced in bronze reductions during the seventeenth and later centuries. 

RELATED LITERATURE

F. Haskell and N. Penny, Taste and the Antique. The Lure of Classical Sculpture 1500-1900, New Haven and London, pp. 165-167, no. 15