French, Early 18th Century

Adriano Ribolzi, Monaco;

Sotheby's Paris, 30 November 2011, lot 30;

Where acquired by Aso O. Tavitian.

In 1512, Pope Julius II acquired a Roman copy of an ancient marble depicting Cleopatra or the sleeping Ariadne, and placed it in his collection at the Belvedere Palace. Since that discovery, the model enjoyed popularity throughout Europe. Francis I commissioned Primaticcio to cast a life-size bronze figure of the Ariadne, and later Louis XIV would ask Corneille Van Clève to carve a life-size marble version.

The existence of the present bronze attests to the continued popularity of this model. The crown C mark found on this work corresponds to a tax levied on bronze objects, gilded or colored, affixed between February 1745 and March 1749.

RELATED LITERATURE

G. de Bellaigue, The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor. Furniture, Clocks and Gilt Bronzes, Fribourg 1974, vol. 1, pp.31-35;

L. Seeling, 'Ariadne und Kleopatra in Marmor und Bronze, Kopien und Variatione eines antiken Bildwerks,' in Die Weltkunst, 15 October 1979, pp.2548-2549;

F. Haskell, Taste and the Antique, London 1981, pp.184-187;

G. Bresc-Bautier and A. Pingeot, Sculptures des jardins du Louvre, du Carrousel et des Tuileries, Paris 1986, vol. II, pp.376-378.