Antique Bronze Sculpture of The Dying Gaul by B Boschetti Rome, 19th C

This striking classical sculpture is after the original antique Roman marble sculpture found in the Capitoline Museum in the early 17th Century, which is itself a copy of an ancient Hellenistic bronze sculpture commissioned by Attalus of Pergamon in 230-220 BC to celebrate his victory over the Galatians.

 

This exquisitely executed bronze sculpture depicts the wounded naked dying gladiator with remarkable realism and pathos. He is beautifully featured as a Celtic warrior with curly hairstyle and has a characteristic band of twisted metal around his neck. He lies on his fallen shield while his sword lies beside him on the right-hand side and his head is looking downward in dignified sorrow.

He is raised on an antico rosso oval plinth on bun feet and is signed B Boschetti Roma, on one end of the bronze.

 

The attention to detail throughout this piece is second to none. 

 

Add a classical dimension to your home with this captivating Italian Grand Tour sculpture. 

Benedetto Boschetti
In the early 19th Century Benedetto Boschetti fed the growing demand for high quality works of art with an antique theme created by an influx of grand tourists, many of whom were English. Little is known about his life, but he is known to have worked out of his workshops in the centre of Rome where he produced a large number of classically inspired objects ranging from bronzes to tabletops and mosaics. Active between 1820-1870, the Boschetti workshop exhibited at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in 1851. The workshop was renowned for the exceptional quality of its copies after the 'Antique', mainly in marble and bronze.
 
First recorded in the Ludovisi Collection in 1623, the antique marble known as 'The Dying Gaul' was acquired for the Capitoline Museums by Pope Clement XII, before being ceded to the French in 1797. The sculpture arrived in Paris in a triumphal procession and was housed in the Musée Central des Arts. After Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo in 1815, it was returned to the Capitoline Museums, where its fame was such that it was displayed in a dedicated room named after it. The subject was long interpreted as a Gladiator until late 19th-century scholarship identified the poignant figure as a wounded Galatian, whose army invaded the Hellenistic kingdom of Pergamon in the third century AD. Since the marble's discovery, its popularity has spawned numerous reductions in bronze, marble and alabaster.

 

Angelica Kauffman, RA (1741 - 1807)

was a Swiss-born Austrian Neoclassical painter who had a successful career in London and Rome. Though born as "Kauffmann", Kauffman is the preferred spelling of her name in English; it is the form she herself used most in signing her correspondence, documents and paintings.

While Kauffman produced many types of art, she identified herself primarily as a history painter, an unusual designation for a woman artist in the 18th century. History painting, was considered the most elite and lucrative category in academic painting during this time period. Under the direction of Sir Joshua Reynolds, the Royal Academy made a strong effort to promote history painting to a native audience who were more interested in commissioning and buying portraits and landscapes.

Despite the popularity that Kauffman enjoyed in British society and her success as an artist, she was disappointed by the relative apathy that the British had towards history painting. Ultimately she left Britain for the continent, where history painting was better established, held in higher esteem and patronized.

The works of Angelica Kauffman have retained their reputation. By 1911, rooms decorated with her work were still to be seen in various quarters. At Hampton Court was a portrait of the duchess of Brunswick; in the National Portrait Gallery, a self-portrait. There were other pictures by her at Paris, at Dresden, in the Hermitage at St Petersburg, in the Alte Pinakothek atMunich, in Kadriorg Palace, Tallinn (Estonia).

Satinwood

is a hard and durable wood with a satinlike sheen, much used in cabinetmaking, especially in marquetry. It comes from two tropical trees of the family Rutaceae (rue family). East Indian or Ceylon satinwood is the yellowish or dark-brown heartwood of Chloroxylon swietenia.

The lustrous, fine-grained, usually figured wood is used for furniture, cabinetwork, veneers, and backs of brushes. West Indian satinwood, sometimes called yellow wood, is considered superior. It is the golden yellow, lustrous, even-grained wood found in the Florida Keys and the West Indies.

It has long been valued for furniture. It is also used for musical instruments, veneers, and other purposes. Satinwood is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Sapindales, family Rutaceae.