Italian, After the Antique, 19th Century

The antique statue of the Borghese Gladiator that inspired the present cast was first mentioned in 1611 while it was being restored after it had been discovered to the south of Rome. The sculpture became part of the Borghese collection from 1613 and remained there until 1807, when it was acquired by Napoleon Bonaparte for the Louvre. 

A bronze cast of this model was made for King Charles I of England, roughly twenty years after the original sculpture was discovered, and the present cast testifies to the continued popularity of this composition.

RELATED LITERATURE

F. Haskell and N. Penny, Taste and the Antique, New Haven and Yale, 1981, pp. 221-224, no. 43