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2019
Lancut Castle in Poland is home to a statue of a seated Mercury. It's perhaps one of the most curious ancient marble sculptures to have come out of Vincenzo Pacetti's restoration workshop. Until now, the earliest known reference to it was as late as the 1800s when Pacetti is reported as buying it. Now an unpublished drawing in the British Museum shows that it was on display in Rome at least as early as in the mid 1500s. It can be identified as the statue of Phryxus that Ulisse Aldrovandi noted in the gardens of Palazzo Podocataro. By knitting together the writings of Aldrovandi and Vasari an intentional iconographical layout of the garden's statuary emerges. The statue of Mercury could be seen "in conversation" with the statue of Bacchus seated next to a panther. The latter, now lost, had been in the Della Valle-Medici collection. Drawings on the back of the London document, and others on a second leaf by the same hand, provide new and precious information about the history of art collections and the restoration of some of the famous sculptures that were on display in the coutyard of the Della Valle Palace in Rome,
Archaeol Anthropol Sci, 2017
Presented here are the results of an archeological and archaeometric study of two famous marble sculptures displayed in the Gabinetto Segreto of the National Archeological Museum of Naples: the "Pan and She-Goat" group from the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum and the statue of the "Bikini Venus"leaning on a statuette of Priapus from the House of Julia Felix in Pompeii. This study offers some art historical observations about the sculptures and the first minero-petrographic (polarizing microscopy on thin section and x-ray diffraction on powders) and isotopic (C and O stable isotope ratio) investigation of their marble types. The results indicate that the "Pan and She-Goat" group employed the statuary white Carrara variety, while the Parian lychnites was used for the "Bikini Venus". Analyses proved also that the red finishing layer present on the latter statue is composed by sandyx.
The provenance of the marbles used for the five ancient sculptures on display in the Tribune of the Uffizi-the Venere Medici, the Apollo Medici, the Satiro danzante, the Arrotino and the Lottatori-has been determined using a well-established multi-method approach that includes isotopic, petrographic and EPR data. The Arrotino was found to be made of Docimium marble from the Phrygian quarries of Iscehisar, whereas Parian lychnites was used for the other four sculptures. Restorations, including the restoration of the Satiro ascribed to Michelangelo or his school, primarily used Pentelicon marble. The Lottatori, however, underwent multiple restorations that used a lychnites analytically different from the original stock, as well as Docimium, Carrara and Göktepe marbles. The right arm of the winner, which was considered to be a later addition, turned out to be made using the original marble-lychnites marble. The marble data provide support for the chronology of the sculptures and give insight into the complex sequence of restorations that they underwent.
Presented here are the results of an archeological and archaeometric study of two famous marble sculptures displayed in the Gabinetto Segreto of the National Archeological Museum of Naples: the BPan and She-Goat^ group from the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum and the statue of the BBikini Venus^ leaning on a statuette of Priapus from the House of Julia Felix in Pompeii. This study offers some art historical observations about the sculptures and the first minero-petrographic (polarizing microscopy on thin section and x-ray diffraction on powders) and isotopic (C and O stable isotope ratio) investigation of their marble types. The results indicate that the BPan and She-Goat^ group employed the statuary white Carrara variety, while the Parian lychnites was used for the BBikini Venus^. Analyses proved also that the red finishing layer present on the latter statue is composed by sandyx.
Jounal of Ancient History and Archaeology, 3, 1, 2016
This study proposes to re-evaluate a marble statue from the old collections of the National Museum of Union Alba Iulia. It was discovered by A. Cserni during excavations carried out at the Palace of the Governors of Roman Dacia, in 1898. It has been repeatedly published by Á. Hekler and Al. Diaconescu. While the latter author established dating and iconographic prototype of the statue, we believe that further details as discovery place and context, depiction, iconographic attribution and role of this work of art can be offered. Presence of a follower at the feet of the divinity, more precisely the right foot of a character-child, conveys us the idea of depiction of Eros, god of love. Usually, this is depicted beside nude or seminude Venus, and sculptural representation from Apulum is somehow different from iconographic point of view. As we see it, taking into consideration the discovery place, artefacts resulted from the same excavation, artistic eclecticism, religious iconographic influences and official politics of the Roman state, we believe we are dealing with rather an unusual statue of Venera as manner of representation or an image of an empress, wife of a governor or member of a family of municipal authorities from Apulum.
Italy and Hungary. Humanism and Art in the Early Renaissance. Ed. by Péter Farbaky and Louis A. Waldman. pp. 553-607., 2011
Each age constructs its own view of antiquity. Baroque sculptors, including masters such as Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Alessandro Algardi, were employed in the restoration of antiquities for both secular and ecclesiastical patrons. 17th century tastes dictated that ancient statuary needed to be “complete” rather than in various fragments to be displayed. While 17th century treatises on sculpture, such as Orfeo Boselli’s Observations Concerning Ancient Sculpture advised conservatism and careful study of ancient materials, some Baroque sculptors were bolder than others in their restorations. This paper considers the restoration industry in Rome in the later 16th and 17th centuries by examining the ways in which artists of this time interacted with ancient statuary, the philosophy and technology behind restoration, and a consideration of the restorations carried out by the major Baroque sculptors: Nicolas Cordier, Pietro Bernini, Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Francesco Mochi, Francois Duquesnoy, and Alessandro Algardi. The works of each of these sculptors exhibit interest in different aspects of classical art. Many of these works present a final product that is neither entirely ancient, nor entirely early modern. These restored works must be seen in the light of the tastes of Baroque patrons, artistic innovation, and an acceptance or rejection of the classical model.
2015
Four statues, three togati and one palliata placed on the ground at regular intervals along the west wall in the courtyard, are the focus of this study.1 The statures are 17th century creations in white marble that include at least one large fragment of a Roman original with later additions. Modern inscriptions associate the togati with famous Roman citizens while the inscription on the base of the palliata may be antique. These works of art were not part of the original 17th century setting in the palace. Incorporated in the Lancellotti collection at the beginning of the 19th century, they were kept in storage until around 1970 when they were finally exhibited along the west wall of the courtyard. The original function of this kind of Roman portrait and its role in 17th century settings and the present display are discussed.
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