Dreams Less Sweet Antiques

Description

A late 19th Century Italian carved marble bust, after the 'Albani Faun'.

High quality bust in Carrara marble with socle base in dark grey & red veined marble.

Provenance: French Art Market.

The 'Albani Faun', also sometimes referred to as the 'Laughing Faun', is a Roman marble dating to circa 100 BC, which resides today in the Munich Glyptothek. The work was previously part of the prestigious collection of antiquities at the Villa Albani in Rome. The Villa Albani, known today as the Villa Albani Torlonia, was built in the mid-18th century for Cardinal Alessandro Albani (1692-1779), nephew of Pope Clement XI (1649-1721), to house his collection of antiquities, curated by 'the father of art history' J.J. Winckelmann (1717-1768). As soon as the villa was completed in 1763, Cardinal Albani welcomed cultivated visitors to admire the collection, which immediately became a highlight for British aristocrats on the Grand Tour. The Albani Faun was reproduced by countless artists as such copies were extremely popular amongst Grand Tourists visiting Italy. 

In 1797, following the invasion of the Papal States, the faun is believed to have been part of the haul of Roman antiquities taken from Rome to Paris by Napoleon's army. Following Napoleon's final defeat at Waterloo in 1815, the famed sculptor Antonio Canova (1757-1822), was dispatched to Paris by Pope Pius VII (1742-1823) with the task of negotiating the repatriation of the stolen artwork. Canova was successful and much of the booty was returned to its original owners, however some treasures remained in Paris because the costs of transporting them home were too high. One such work was the Albani Faun, which was never returned to the Albani family, and was subsequently sold in Paris to Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria (1786-1868), with whom it travelled to Munich, where it remains to this day. 

The present marble bust, an Italian copy after the antique, depicts the young Faun with his head turned slightly to the left and looking down, with a bare chest and shoulders. The iconic faun, a sylvan demigod from Classical mythology, can be recognised by his goat's horns and grin.