Pair of C19th Italian Carved Alabaster Busts of "Petrarca" and "Laura"

Pair of C19th Italian carved alabaster busts of "Petrarca" and "Laura".

Well-carved rare companion pair of miniature library/desk-top busts of the Italian Renaissance scholar and poet Francesco Petrarca (anglicised as Petrarch) and his 'muse' and inspiration, Laura de Noves. Petrarca (1304-1374)is often referred to as the "Father of Humanism" , whose sonnets and poems were admired and imitated throughout Europe during the Renaissance . His re-discovery of the letters of Cicero is often credited as initiating the C14th Renaissance, and in 1341 he became the first poet laureate since antiquity and was crowned on the holy grounds of Rome's Capitol. Born in Arezzo ,Petrarca gave up his vocation as a priest when the sight of Laura in the church of Sainte-Claire d'Avignon awoke in him a lasting passion. Already married , Laura refused him and his unrequited passions were channeled into love poems. Both titled on the base of bust sections, raised on integral turned socles. Petrarca portrayed with a period head-covering and laurel wreath ,Laura shown with her hair tied in a distinctive chignon style.

Chip to rear base of Laura study.

H 9"

Italy c. 1870

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