Thursday, August 25, 2016

Late Imitations of Ancient Sculpture

Jabez Hughes
The Grand Corridor at Osborne House, Isle of Wight
ca. 1863-73
albumen print
Royal Collection, Great Britain

Prince Albert and Queen Victoria built and decorated Osborne House from the ground up as a summer retreat for themselves and their children. The "Grand Corridor" glimpsed above was densely populated with modern white marble statues, most of them supplied with Greek or Roman identities. A long row of statues with their backs against a wall was the default display-disposition in the majority of European palaces and galleries from the earliest Renaissance to the middle of the 20th century. Below, a range of other tributes and pastiches from the 18th and 19th centuries, directly or indirectly inspired by antique models.

William Theed
Colossal Bust - The Capitoline Alexander
1856
marble copy commissioned by Prince Albert
Royal Collection, Great Britain

Angelo Minghetti
Polychrome Bust of Calilgula
ca. 1858-85
painted earthenware
Victoria & Albert Museum

Angelo Minghetti
Polychrome Bust of Tiberius
ca. 1858-85
painted earthenware
Victoria & Albert Museum

Auguste Rodin
Minerva
modeled in 1898, carved in 1901
marble
Philadelphia Museum of Art

Doccia Manufactory, Florence
Triton
1760s
porcelain relief plaque
Victoria & Albert Museum
 
John Flaxman
Seated Youth with Pan-pipes (back)
1824
terracotta statuette
Victoria & Albert Museum

John Flaxman
Seated Youth with Pan-pipes (front)
1824
terracotta statuette
Victoria & Albert Museum

John Flaxman
Pastoral Apollo
1825
life-size marble
Petworth House, Sussex

Ferdinand Leenhoff
Mercury
1898
bronze statuette
Rijksmuseum

Giovacchino & Pietro Belli
Arch of Titus
1808-15
marble and gilt-bronze model
Royal Collection, Great Britain

Giovacchino & Pietro Belli
Arch of Constantine
1808-15
marble and gilt-bronze model
Royal Collection, Great Britain


Giovacchino & Pietro Belli
Arch of Septimus Severus
1808-15
marble and gilt-bronze model
Royal Collection, Great Britain

Josiah Wedgwood
Miniature busts on plinths
ca. 1787
porcelain
Royal Collection, Great Britain