Italian, Tuscany or Rome, third quarter of the 18th century

Acquired in the 60s-70s by an art dealer settled in the Sablon, Brussels ;

Thence in the same family by descent, private collection, South of France.

This arresting presentation of the sun god, Apollo, with unusual bare-breasted presentation and classicising drapery marks a departure from the exuberance of late baroque sculpture. The bust is a testament to the classical restraint and innovation of sculptors operating in Florence and Rome in the last decades of the 18th century.

The almost half-length composition of our Apollo, his gaze suggested only by barely incised pupils and irises, the treatment of the fluid drapery that only partially covers his necked torso, and the refined polishing of the surface are all characteristics found in the refined style of Tuscan sculptors of the second half of the 18th century, such as Giovanni Antonio Cybei (1706 - 1784) and Francesco Carradori (1747 - 1824). Thus, the treatment of the drapery, the realistic details delineated with care, notably the ears and laurel leaves of Apollo's crown, as well as the beautifully polished surface, find parallels in certain busts by Cybei, such as that of Pietro Leopoldo, Grand Duke of Tuscany, circa 1771 (Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Reale, Pisa), or others by Carradori, such as that of Antonio Maria Gaspare Sacchini, circa 1785 (Musei Capitolini, Rome).

Another possible origin of this elegant bust can be found in the Roman artistic circle of the second half of the 18th century, around figures such as Innocenzo Spinazzi (1726–1798), who also taught Carradori, and Carlo Albacini (1734–1813).

This large and elegant marble may have been designed as part of a set designed for a state room in a palace. In Florence, the Palazzo Corsini has preserved a series of similar busts, still visible in the niches above the tall openings of the Salone, among which those of Apollo, Neptune and a Female Figure are attributed to Giovacchino Fortini (cf. S. Bellesi, M. Visonà, op. cit., pp. 41-44). It should also be noted that the relatively reduced thickness of this bust would be perfectly suited to the shallow depth of a niche.

RELATED LITERATURE

S. Bellesi, M. Visonà, Giovanni Fortini. Scultura architettura, decorazione e committenza a Firenze al tempo degli ultimi Medici, Florence, 2008;

G. Pratesi, (ed.), Scultura Fiorentina del Seicento e Settecento, 3 vols., Turin, 1993;

A. Bacchi, Il conoscitore d’arte. Sculture dal XV al XIX secolo della collezione di Federico Zeri, Milano, 1990, pp. 64-65.