拍品 241
  • 241

ITALIAN, AFTER THE ANTIQUE, LATE 18TH/EARLY 19TH CENTURY | Crouching Venus

估價
40,000 - 60,000 USD
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招標截止

描述

  • Crouching Venus
  • marble
  • height 34 1/2 in.; 87.5cm.

Condition

Some natural inclusions in the marble. Very minor surface abrasions and very minor losses/chips. Restorations and reattachment to two fingers (forefinger and small finger) on proper right hand). Lovely quality. Beautiful face.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

拍品資料及來源

Beautifully carved in marble, the present sculpture portrays the goddess Venus  nude and crouching down. Her head turned to the right, the figure has her hair gathered loosely in a bun and slightly falling over her left shoulder. Her left arm is leaning on her left raised knee, with the hand extended downward, while the right arm crosses in front of her breasts, with the hand reaching upward. The present composition is a variant of the celebrated Hellenistic statue of the third century B.C. known as Crouching Venus, represented in numerous versions, which are believed to be copies of a statue by Doidalsas of Bythania, an artist who may have existed or may indeed be a product of modern scholarship. The attribution to Doidalsas rests on a corrupt, problematical passage from Pliny who refers to a statue of Aphrodite bathing herself in the Portico d’Ottavia in Rome.

The most famous versions of the so-called ‘Doidalsas’ type are the Uffizi Venus, recorded in 1704 in the Villa Medici in Rome, the Lely Venus, and the Naples Venus. The Lely Venus, currently on a long-term loan to the British Museum, was acquired by Charles I from the Gonzaga collection, where it was recorded in the 1631 inventory of statues. After Charles I’s execution, the sculpture was offered at auction and purchased by the artist Peter Lely, from whom it derives its name. The Naples Venus, conserved in the Museo Nazionale, was already in the Loggia of the Palazzo Madama-Medici in Rome in the first years of the sixteenth century, and was the subject of numerous drawings by Marten van Heemskerck, who visited the eternal city between 1532 and 1535.

RELATED LITERATURE
Francis Haskell and Nicholas Penny, Taste and the Antique, Yale University Press, 1981, p. 321-323;
Brunilde Sismondo Ridgway, Hellenistic Sculpture, vol. 1, The University of Wisconsin Press, 2001, p. 230;
Selma Holo, 'A Note on the Afterlife of the Crouching Aphrodite in the Renaissance' in The J. Paul Getty Museum Journal, vol. 6/7 (1978/1979), pp. 232-36