A FINE MATCHED PAIR OF GRAND TOUR ARCHITECTURAL MODELS OF GREEK DOMES SURROUNDING A CLASSICAL MALE STATUE
Sand-cast and patinated bronze with raised-relief incorporating original black marble | Italian, circa 1860
Item # 307KOP13A 

A very carefully executed and rather scarce pair of architectural models from the Grand Tour period, they capture the essence of a Greek tholos temple, the “peripteral” design incorporating with a circular colonnade of fluted columns raising capitals of the Doric order.

These small models were designed for the aristocrats that travelled Europe and spent a great deal of time in Italy as part of their ongoing education, a journey called the “Grand Tour”. It was an era characterized by a deep interest in the architecture, sculpture, art, literature and motif of Classical Antiquity and the Renaissance; it would center around the ancient works, which were studied in gross detail during this educational rite-of-passage for students of means. Studying and understanding the early marvels had a marked influence not only on the aspiring artists, architects and designers, but most importantly in shaping the taste and understanding of the important patrons of the era. This led to the picturesque and idealized architecture that would be the focal point of many gardens and public spaces contemporary to these models. One famous example are the grand gardens of the Villa Durazzo-Pallavicini built in 1840-1846 with its Temple of Diana clearly inspired by the same sentiment as these models. Another example is the Temple of Apollo constructed in 1862-1865 for the Nymphenburg Palace Park in Germany.


The present pair center around matched statues of a classical Greek statesman beneath the complex arrangement of cove-molded marble capped by a sand-cast bronze dome with exquisitely cast and hand-chiseled raised-relief decorations of repeating anthemion and c-scrolls surrounding a tapered finial. The high copper content of the metal allows for a particularly chaotic patina, this entirely original and quite variegated from time and handling. Each would have left the foundry with a nearly black patina highlighted by parcel gilding, the latter having worn away gently over time to reveal the warm coppery tones of the raw bronze while at the same time the black has lightly worn away to give glimpses to the warmer browns and reddish hues.


Measurements: 13 1/8” H x 7 1/8” base diameter


Condition Report:
Very minor handling wear to original patina throughout, a fine state of preservation. Small chips to the marble on both models. Carefully cleaned and sealed in conservator’s grade wax.