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Large Bronze Head Grand Tour Pseudo-Seneca Naples late 18th century

circa 1780

$8,128.24
£6,027.57
€6,900VAT Included
CA$11,348.91
A$11,514.81
CHF 6,577.98
MX$139,415.59
NOK 77,278.77
SEK 77,176.44
DKK 52,611.91

About the Item

Large bronze head from the Grand Tour period depicting Pseudo-Seneca, Italian workshop, late 18th to early 19th century. The Pseudo-Seneca is a Roman bronze head from the late 1st century BC, discovered in 1754 in the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum and now housed in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples. It is the best specimen ever found among some 20 busts depicting the same subject. He was initially thought to represent Lucius Anneus Seneca, the famous Roman philosopher of the first century AD. Since the 19th century, the traditional theory of a "portrait from life" of Seneca has been rejected, and numerous other hypotheses have been put forward about the identity of the model depicted in this fictional portrait: from the Archaic period (Hesiod or Aesop; the iambographers Archilocus or Hippocrates), to the Classical period (the playwrights Epicarmus, Aristophanes and Philemon; the tragedian Euripides), to the Hellenistic period (the philosophers Carneades and Eratosthenes; the poets Callimachus, Apollonius Rhodius and Philetas of Coo), or even to the Latin poet Lucretius. Its discovery had such a resonance in the art world that, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Neapolitan workshops obtained permission to make a cast of it for bronze copies. Our head exhibits characteristics typical of early models: impeccable sculptural quality, with fine and precise details, thanks to the fact that the casting was made from the original molds of the work, resulting in the most detailed of all; a splendid aged brown patina; and a base of yellow Siena marble of an intense ochre color, a material rediscovered by the neoclassical movement for its warm, sunny hue; the system that originally attached the head to the marble, later replaced by a large nut. His face is expressive, with a thick beard and shaggy hair, giving him a melancholy and pensive air. The bronze head of Pseudo-Seneca was one of the most iconic antiquities of the Grand Tour. Discovered in 1754 in Herculaneum's Villa of the Papyri, it aroused the admiration of travelers during their visits to Naples. The work became an indispensable object for European aristocratic travelers. Numerous specimens were produced throughout the 19th century and to the present day, but the oldest remain the most valuable. Size: H 46 cm W 22 cm
  • Creation Year:
    circa 1780
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 18.12 in (46 cm)Width: 8.67 in (22 cm)
  • Medium:
    Bronze
  • Movement & Style:
    Old Masters
  • Period:
    Late 18th Century
  • Condition:
    Excellent condition, authentic patina, no restoration.
  • Gallery Location:
    Pistoia, IT
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU2746218069922

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