Giacomo and Giovanni Zoffoli (active mid to late 18th century) Italian, Rome, 18th century After the Antique

Hugh Honour FRSL (1927-2016) and John Fleming (1919-2001), Villa Marchiò, Tofori, Tuscany, Italy

H. Honour, 'Bronze Statuettes by Giacomo and Giovanni Zoffoli', The Connoisseur, November 1961, p. 205, no. 17

Overall, the condition of the bronze is good, with some dirt and wear to the surface consistent with age. There is some greening to the bronze in areas. There is some dryness to the patina at the terrasse besides the legs and to the chest at the proper left clavicle. There is also some flaking to the patina at these areas. There is a small hole to the proper left armpit. There are a few minor casting flaws, including to the area around the elbow. There is a scratch to the proper left thigh.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This signed bronze by the Zoffoli brothers is cast after the antique marble in the Capitoline Museums, Rome. First recorded in the Ludovisi Collection in 1623, it was acquired for the Capitoline Museums by Pope Clement XII, before being ceded to the French in 1797. The sculpture arrived in Paris in a triumphal procession and was housed in the Musée Central des Arts. After Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo in 1815, it was returned to the Capitoline Museums, where its fame was such that it was displayed in a dedicated room named after it. The subject was long interpreted as a Gladiator until late 19th-century scholarship identified the poignant figure as a wounded Galatian, whose army invaded the Hellenistic kingdom of Pergamon in the third century AD. Since the marble’s discovery, its popularity has spawned numerous reductions in bronze. The present bronze is listed in Honour's annotated list of the Zoffoli workshop, being the only signed version to his knowledge, in the collection of Mr. John Fleming.

RELATED LITERATURE
F. Haskell and N. Penny, Taste and the Antique. The Lure of Classical Sculpture 1500-1900, New Haven and London, pp. 224-227, no. 44

The Late Hugh Honour and John Fleming

This elegant collection of Grand Tour bronzes and marbles was formed by the art historians and Italophiles, the late Hugh Honour and John Fleming. Together they wrote the famous A World History of Art, still one of the standard texts for any aspiring art historian, whilst Honour’s witty Companion Guide to Venice (1965) is still enjoyed by visitors to the Serenissma to this day. Honour was a leading authority on Antonio Canova and Neoclassicism. In Honour’s obituary for the Burlington Magazine, Nicholas Penny writes that he was able to ‘transform the reputation of one of the greatest of all European artists’ and brought his elegant and reliable knowledge to an increasingly wider audience throughout his life.

The collection includes a rare autograph Caracalla by Francis Harwood, the British sculptor who lived in Florence, supplying high quality marbles to Grand Tourists and royalty, including Catherine the Great of Russia. The larger portion of the collection includes one of the most important groupings of Zoffoli bronzes to have come to market, the majority of which were published by Honour in his defining article on the Zoffoli workshop: 'Bronze Statuettes by Giacomo and Giovanni Zoffoli', The Conoisseur, November 1961 pp. 198-205.

Earlier this year Sotheby’s sold John Deare’s magisterial Eleanor and Edward from Hugh Honour and John Fleming’s collection, Treasures, 5 July 2017, lot 35. It is a great privilege for Sotheby’s to offer the wider collection of two of the most respected Italophile British art historians of the 20^th century.