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Neoclassical sculpture Ephebus Harpocratic in Marble Roman workshop 18th century

circa 1780

$6,413.40
£4,806.79
€5,500VAT Included
CA$9,113.66
A$9,259.17
CHF 5,159.38
MX$112,101.62
NOK 63,082.94
SEK 61,913.04
DKK 41,934.08

About the Item

Rare neoclassical white marble sculpture depicting an ephebe in the gesture of silence, also known as the gesture of Harpocrates, Rome, second half of the 18th century. Harpocrates, son of Isis and Serapis, corresponds to the infant Horus and is related to the rising sun. In Egyptian art he is depicted as a naked boy with a shaved skull, a side braid, and a finger to his mouth. The Greeks and Romans transformed him into an Eros-like child with wavy hair and a lotus flower on his head, like the Hadrian-era specimen preserved in the Capitoline Museums. Associated with the initiatory silentium in Gnostic philosophy, Harpocrates was also juxtaposed with Dionysus and Apollo. He often wears the nebride and leans on a vine trunk, symbols of fertility and rebirth. In some representations he holds a cornucopia, a sign of abundance. The gesture of Harpocrates was later taken up by many subsequent artists as an allegory of reserve, prudence and inner reflection. It also became a powerful emblem for protecting esoteric and philosophical knowledge from the profane and uninitiated connected with Hermeticism or Freemasonry. This 18th-century Roman depiction, from a stately palace on the Via del Corso and certainly made to order, could rather be described as a Harpocratic Ephebus: it depicts, in fact, a naked young man leaning against the trunk of a tree like the Louvre's Ephebus Narcissus; it differs from the latter in the position of his head, which, instead of looking down, shifts its gaze to the side bringing a finger to its mouth in the gesture of Harpocrates. In the 18th century, a passion for classical antiquity and archaeology (fueled by the excavations at Herculaneum and Pompeii) led the great master sculptors and Roman workshops to create works inspired by Greco-Roman statuary. The figure of Harpocrates, in particular, became highly sought after by collectors of the time and the Grand Tour, as he combined aesthetic elegance with strong symbolic appeal. Our statue, made of finely worked white marble, is characterized by a smooth surface, purity of line, and a careful study of anatomy. Measurements H cm 60 D base cm 20
  • Creation Year:
    circa 1780
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 23.63 in (60 cm)Width: 7.88 in (20 cm)
  • Medium:
    Marble
  • Movement & Style:
    Academic
  • Period:
    Late 18th Century
  • Condition:
    Very good condition, small signs of time.
  • Gallery Location:
    Pistoia, IT
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU2746218122622

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