Property from an English Private Collection
A Marble Shrine with Relief Decoration, attributed to the Workshop of Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778)
Lot Closed
July 5, 01:37 PM GMT
Estimate
8,000 - 12,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
Property from an English Private Collection
A Marble Shrine with Relief Decoration
attributed to Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778)
with quadrangular base adorned with a ram's head at each corner and scrolling acanthus along the concave sides; the shrine itself in the form of a funerary altar carved on one side with an arched shallow recess engraved with a quote from Cicero reading Honos est praemium virtutis ("Honour is the reward of virtue"), and on the other with a deep curved recess fitted for display of a bust or statuette, both niches flanked by two tapering Corinthian colonnettes each supporting a delicate tripod; one short side of the altar ornamented with a couchant ram(?) beneath a hanging set of Pan pipes against crossed horns, the other with a wreathed lyre above a coiled serpent; the cornice with multiple mouldings supporting two rotuli linked by volutes centring a palmette, a shallow recess on top.
124.5 by 76.5 and 63.5 cm.
Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778), Rome
William Ponsonby, 2nd Earl of Bessborough (1704-1793), Parkstead House, Roehampton, Middlesex, probably acquired through his agent Thomas Jenkins
by descent to John Ponsonby, 5th Earl of Bessborough (1809-1880) (probably Christie's, July 10th-11th, 1850)
William Lowther, 2nd Earl of Lonsdale (1787-1872), Lowther Castle, Penrith, Cumberland, probably acquired at the above sale
then by descent to Lancelot Lowther, 6th Earl of Lonsdale (1867-1953), Lowther Castle (probably Maple & Co., Ltd., and Thomas Wyatt, Penrith, Lowther Castle, near Penrith, Cumberland. The Major Part of the Earl of Lonsdale's Collection, April 29th-May 1st, 1947)
English private collection, acquired in the late 1940s/1950s
by descent to the present owner
Published:
Llewellynn Jewitt and S. C. Hall, The Stately Homes of England, vol. 2, London, 1877, p. 310: "a monument from the Besborough [sic] collection, inscribed "Honos est praemium virtutis"
(https://books.google.com/books?id=e5FjB5v0wbAC&lpg=PA310&ots=JOWHHbpV5H&dq)
Felice Stampfle, Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Drawings in the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, 1978, no. 38, illus. (https://www.themorgan.org/drawings/item/142417)
This elaborate antiquarian creation, which probably served as a shrine for an actual antiquity, is documented in a drawing by Piranesi's own hand.
Two of its decorative motifs, the lyre and pan pipes, are stylistically highly reminiscent of similar elements carved on monumental relief panels designed by Piranesi for the wall opposite Santa Maria del Priorato, the Church of the Knights of Malta in Rome (https://www.themorgan.org/drawings/item/142428, https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-piazza-dei-cavalieri-di-malta-aventine-hill-rome-italy-18599841.html).
In typical Piranesi fashion, the four-sided base with ram's head in the corners is inspired by the top section of a three-sided Roman candelabrum base (e.g. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_2010-5006-1862).
Originally, the altar feature of the present monument was carved taller than it is now, probably matching the proportions of Piranesi's sketch. A narrow section was removed from the middle, causing the edges of three of the tapering column shafts to no longer fit together. This necessitated the removal of part of the upper section of each shaft and the insertion of a newly carved connecting insert. All three of these inserts are now missing.
This elaborate antiquarian creation, which probably served as a shrine for an actual antiquity, is documented in a drawing by Piranesi's own hand.
Two of its decorative motifs, the lyre and pan pipes, are stylistically highly reminiscent of similar elements carved on monumental relief panels designed by Piranesi for the wall opposite Santa Maria del Priorato, the Church of the Knights of Malta in Rome (https://www.themorgan.org/drawings/item/142428, https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-piazza-dei-cavalieri-di-malta-aventine-hill-rome-italy-18599841.html).
In typical Piranesi fashion, the four-sided base with ram's head in the corners is inspired by the top section of a three-sided Roman candelabrum base (e.g. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_2010-5006-1862).
Originally, the altar feature of the present monument was carved taller than it is now, probably matching the proportions of Piranesi's sketch. A narrow section was removed from the middle, causing the edges of all four tapering column shafts to no longer fit together. This necessitated the removal of the upper section of each shaft and the insertion of a newly carved connecting insert. All four of these inserts are now missing.
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