THE BEAUTY WITHIN: The Chenel Collection
THE BEAUTY WITHIN: The Chenel Collection
A Roman Marble Torso of a Youth, circa 1st Century A.D.
Lot Closed
December 17, 04:09 PM GMT
Estimate
150,000 - 250,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
A Roman Marble Torso of a Youth
circa 1st Century A.D.
standing with the weight on his left leg, formerly resting his right elbow on a support, his mantle clasped over the left shoulder, draped over the back, and formerly falling from the right lower arm; former restorations removed.
Height 94 cm.
private collection, Italy, 18th Century or earlier (based on restoration techniques)
Baron Léon de Somzée (1837-1901), 22 rue des Palais, Brussels, since at least 1897 (J. Fievez, Brussels, Collections de Somzée, Brussels, May 24th, 1904, lot 23: https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/fievez1904_05_24bd1/0028/image)
his wife, Mme Léon de Somzée (J. Fievez, Collection de Mme de Somzée, May 27th-29th, 1907, lot 278: https://archive.org/details/cataloguedesobje00gale_2/page/62/mode/1up)
private collection, 102 rue de la Tour, Paris
acquired from the above
Baron Léon de Somzée (1837-1901), 22 rue des Palais, Brussels, since at least 1897 (J. Fievez, Brussels, Collections de Somzée, Brussels, May 24th, 1904, lot 23: https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/fievez1904_05_24bd1/0028/image)
his wife, Mme Léon de Somzée (J. Fievez, Collection de Mme de Somzée, May 27th-29th, 1907, lot 278: https://archive.org/details/cataloguedesobje00gale_2/page/62/mode/1up)
private collection, 102 rue de la Tour, Paris
acquired from the above
Adolf Furtwängler, Sammlung Somzée. Antike Kunstdenkmäler, Munich, 1897, p. 18, no. 23, pl. 15
Salomon Reinach, Répertoire de la statuaire grecque et romaine, vol. 2, Paris, 1898, p. 818, no. 7
Salomon Reinach, Répertoire de la statuaire grecque et romaine, vol. 2, Paris, 1898, p. 818, no. 7
When the torso was photographed in the Somzée collection, the lower half of the left upper thigh, and the right elbow including part of the mantle (all restored) were still attached. Furtwängler (op. cit. ) attributed the Greek original of the torso to the art of Praxiteles. The statuary composition is similar to the Apollon Anzio type, see the replica in Petworth House: J. Raeder, Die antiken Skulpturen in Petworth House, 2000, pp. 61ff., no. 10, pl. 17. For the collection of Leon Somzée see C. Evers, Kölner Jahrbuch, vol. 40, 2007, pp. 22ff. Another male torso from his collection was sold at Sotheby’s, New York, June 8th, 2011, no. 33.