Grand Tour Bronze of the Apollo of the Belvedere

Fine 18th century French Grand Tour gilt library bronze of the Apollo Belvedere on an associated Marmo Rosso and black marble socle. Lovely patina with typically distressed gilding often seen on bronzes of this period. The Apollo of the Belvedere, or the Pythian Apollo, is now thought to be a Roman copy of a lost bronze originally made between 350 and 325 BC by the Greek sculptor Leochares. Named after The Cortile del Belvedere at the Vatican Palace in Rome where it is displayed. The statue has always been greatly admired, but owes its fame particularly to Johann Joachim Winckelmann who considered it the sublime expression of the highest ideals of Greek art.

Bronze and socle:
H39.5cm x W21cm x D11cm
H15 1/2" x W8 1/4" x  D4 1/4"

Bronze:
H27.5cm x W21cm x D11cm
H10 3/4" x W8 1/4" x  D4 1/4"

SOLD