C19th Italian ‘Grand Tour’ Souvenir Bronze Bust Study , After the Antique, of “The Albani Faun” .

C19th Italian ‘Grand Tour’ souvenir bronze bust study , after the antique, of “The Albani Faun” .

Bronze cast of the original antique Roman carved marble bust c.100 AD , known as “The Laughing Faun” , latterly in the collection of Cardinal Albani and the Albani family in Rome . The marble bust was one of a hundred works of art taken from Rome to Paris by Napoleon’s army after the invasion of Italy and the Papal States.

The laughing Satyr or Faun is depicted slightly looking to his left , his bared-tooth manic smile , pointed ears and beastly horns in his hair portraying his demeanour as a mythical woodland creature of mischief, merriment and revelry. The neck having a further hairy horned growth alluding to his bestial nature , as in the carved marble original.

Well-detailed bronze casting on an integrally cast circular socle mount base . The whole having a rich consistent colour and patina, the surface with only minor high points from handling commensurate with age .

The marble original now resides in the Munich Glyptothek having been sold from Paris to Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria in the early nineteenth century.

Probably cast in Naples during the last quarter of the C19th , possibly by Chiarazzi Foundry . Copies have been produced of this iconic bust since its rediscovery during the Renaissance period.

Bronze examples from the C18th attributed to Luigi Valadier can be found in both the Royal Collection in the U.K and also in the Riijks Museum, Amsterdam , Netherlands.

H 22”

W 17”

D 10”

Italian c.1880

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