拍品 227
  • 227

ATTRIBUTED TO FRANÇOIS DUQUESNOY (BRUSSELS 1597-1643 LIVORNO) ROME, SECOND QUARTER 17TH CENTURY | Cupid carving his bow

估價
20,000 - 30,000 USD
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描述

  • Cupid carving his bow
  • bronze
  • height 10 ⅞ in.; 27.5 cm.

來源

Collection of Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Salber (1928-2016), Germany

Condition

Very minor, general surface abrasions. The bow and arrow are later replacements and have been expertly made. Beautiful chasing and warm golden brown patina. Small divets or casting flaws on base. Lovely bronze.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

拍品資料及來源

Duquesnoy received his training in the successful Brussels workshop of his father, Jérôme the Elder (c. 1570-1641/2), who worked in the manner of Cornelis Floris and served as court sculptor to Archduke Albert (1559-1621) and Archduchess Isabella (1566-1633). In 1618, Duquesnoy applied to Albert and Isabella for a stipend to enable him to study in Rome; he was granted six hundred livres and left for Rome, where he remained for the rest of his career. According to scholars, Duquesnoy’s first Italian patron was Filippo Colonna, who employed the sculptor to restore antiquities and create small decorative works. In his first years in Italy, Duquesnoy embarked on an intensive study of ancient sculpture. It is certainly this knowledge that drew Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665), after his arrival in Rome in 1624, to the Fleming. The two began to collaborate closely, studying not only antiquities, but also Titian’s Ludovisi Bacchanals. Duquesnoy’s well known sculptures of putti belong to the period around mid-1620s and reflect the sculptor’s intense study of Titian’s work

It was apparently Filippo Colonna who introduced the sculptor's work to Pope Urban VIII (1623-1644). Duquesnoy is recorded among the artists employed in the making of models for Bernini’s Baldacchino, a project on which he continued to work for several years. His contributions led to the prestigious commission of the colossal St. Andrew at St. Peter’s, which established his international reputation.

This fine bronze statuette is a reduction of a 76cm high marble statue by Duquesnoy carved in Italy about 1625 and now in the Staatliche Museum, Berlin.  It appears to be inspired by an etching (inv 2012.136.75.3) from Odoardo Fialetti's Scherzi d' Amore, showing Cupid carving a new bow to replace the one confiscated and later broken by his mother, Venus. Joachim von Sandrart, the sculptor's friend, negotiated the sale of the marble to the wealthy Flemish art collector, Lucas Van Uffel, who was living in Venice at that time.  Van Uffel brought the marble statue back to Holland, and after his death in 1637 it was purchased by the city of Amsterdam and presented as a gift to Princess Amalia of Orange.  The Princess took the statue to The Hague, and after her death in 1689 it entered the collection of King Frederick of Prussia and was highly appreciated by contemporaries. 

Cupid's head, presumably taken from a terracotta model for the figure, is known in several versions.  The best of these, widely given to the sculptor's hand, is in Brunswick (Berger, Krahn, op.cit., no. 105).  We know little of Duquesnoy's activity with regards bronze, though Bellori records his small scale models of putti which were made to be reproduced in copper and silver.  Bellori also records a bronze Mercury and Cupid made for Vincenzo Giustiniani, and a figure of Apollo; the finest versions of the Mercury and the Apollo, generally accepted as being by Duquesnoy himself, are in the Liechtenstein Collection (see Krahn, op.cit., pp. 502-505, nos. 181, 182). Another fine cast of this bronze was sold in these rooms on 26-27 January 2006, lot 481 for $144,000.

RELATED LITERATURE
U. Berger, V. Krahn, Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum Braunshweig, Bronzen der Renaissance und des Barock, Brunswick, 1994, pp. 143-146, nos. 104, 105;
V. Krahn (ed.), "Von Allen Seiten Schön", Bronzen der Renaissance und des Barock, exh. cat., Berlin, 1995-1996, p. 126. no. E31, p. 498, no. 179;
A. Bacchi (ed.), Scultura del '600 a Roma, Milan, 1996, plate 323, pp. 796-799;
Marion-Boudon-Machuel, Francois du Quesnoy, 1597-1643, Paris, 2005.