After Filippo della Valle (Florence 1698 - 1768 Rome), Italian, 18th Century

Christie's London, 7 June 2011, lot 609;

Where acquired by Aso O. Tavitian.

This pair of small bronzes was adapted from Filippo della Valle’s marble group of Cupid and Psyche, known in an engraving of 1732, showing the pair in a single sculpture and in near identical poses. The marble group is recorded in della Valle's inventory taken after his death in 1768. Another marble group by della Valle circa 1730, previously ascribed to Cayot, is in the Wallace Collection (Inv. S22). 

These charming bronzes represent the mythological lovers as infants, rather than adults, and as two separate compositions, rather than one, as seen in della Valle's marble. At least two other bronze pairings of these models are known: one in the Museum Schloss Fasanerie, Eichenzell¹ and another in the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence. A single bronze of Cupid is in the Wallace Collection, London (Inv. S208) and cataloged as 'after della Valle, 18th century.'

Della Valle was the nephew of Giovanni Battista Foggini, court sculptor of the Medici Grand Dukes. After training with his uncle, della Valle moved to Rome circa 1725, where he opened a workshop. His elegant style, attention to detail and intimate approach attracted numerous commissions from Popes Clement XII and Benedict XIV.

¹V. Krahn, Von allen Seiten schön - Bronzen der Renaissance und des Barock, exh. cat., Bode Museum, Berlin, 31 October 1995 -28 January 1996, pp. 608-609, nos. 241-242.

RELATED LITERATURE

V. Minor, Passive Tranquillity : The sculpture of Filippo Della Valle, Philadelphia 1997.