04 Works, Helenic Carvings & Sculpture, With Footnotes #6

A SOUTHERN GERMAN OR NORTH ITALIAN EARLY 17TH CENTURY GILT BRONZE STATUETTE OF MINERVA
Haut. (bronze) 15,5 cm, haut. (base) 9 cm; height (bronze) 6 in., height (base) 3 1/2 in.
Private Collection

Minerva is the Roman goddess of wisdom and strategic warfare and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. From the second century BC onward, the Romans equated her with the Greek goddess Athena,[1] though the Romans did not stress her relation to battle and warfare as the Greeks did. More on Minerva

Italian School of the eighteenth century
The Portrait of a condottiere (leader) as Hercules
Terracotta,
h: 66 w: 56 d: 40 cm 
Private Collection

Hercules (known in Greek as Heracles or Herakles) is one of the best-known heroes in Greek and Roman mythology. His life was not easy–he endured many trials and completed many daunting tasks–but the reward for his suffering was a promise that he would live forever among the gods at Mount Olympus. More on Hercules

Condottiere, plural Condottieri, is a leader of a band of mercenaries engaged to fight in numerous wars among the Italian states from the mid-14th to the 16th century. The name was derived from the condotta, or “contract,” by which the condottieri put themselves in the service of a city or of a lord.

This bust of embossed terracotta presents all the attractions of a portrait of a high-ranking prince of the Renaissance. However, the artist, unfortunately unknown, has merged two different iconographic types, both of which have the will to manifest the authority of the person represented: The man is indeed wearing the famous attribute of 'Hercules, the Skin of the Lion Of Nemea, whose legs intersect on the thorax. This tradition of representation as a man of power, endowed with the attributes of the Greek hero, became widespread in the Hellenistic period: the museums of the Louvre and the Capitol retain one, a bust of Mithridates VI Eupator, Sovereign of the kingdom of Pergamon (132 and 63 BC), the other of the Roman Emperor Commodus endowed with lion skin and even a club. More condottiere as Hercules

Italian School 18th century. The Neapolitan school was very influenced by the Baroque style, along with Caravaggio (paintings by Fracanzano, Saint-Pierre repentant (The penitent Saint Peter), Solimena, L’Annonciation (The Annunciation), Giordano, La Vierge adorant l’Enfant (The Virgin Adoring the Child)…)

Classicism is evident in various ways in the paintings of Vanni, Mola, Agar et l’Ange (Agar and the Angel), Badalocchio or Lorenzo Lippi with the superb Allégorie de la simulation (The Allegory of Simulation).

Finally the Venetian school from the late 18th century is also represented by two of its vedute [stars]: Guardi and the superb Apothéose de la maison Pisani (Apotheosis of the Pisani Family) by Giambattista Tiepolo. More on Italian School 18th century

Eugène Ladreyt Sauzet, 1832 - 1898
"The Judgment of Paris" 
Terracotta 
Titled '' Judgment of Paris '' based 
h: 50 w: 46 d: 20 cm 
Private Collection 

THE JUDGEMENT OF PARIS was a contest between the three most beautiful goddesses of Olympos--Aphrodite, Hera and Athena--for the prize of a golden apple addressed "To the Fairest."

The story began with the wedding of Peleus and Thetis which all the gods had been invited to attend except for Eris, goddess of discord. When Eris appeared at the festivities she was turned away and in her anger cast the golden apple amongst the assembled goddesses addressed "To the Fairest." Three goddesses laid claim to the apple--Aphrodite, Hera and Athena. Zeus was asked to mediate and he commanded Hermes to lead the three goddesses to Paris of Troy to decide the issue. The three goddesses appearing before the shepherd prince, each offering him gifts for favour. He chose Aphrodite, swayed by her promise to bestow upon him Helene, the most beautiful woman, for wife. The subsequent abduction of Helene led directly to the Trojan War and the fall of the city. More on The judgment of Paris

Eugène Ladreyt is also a sculptor known for his statuary humor, under the Second Empire. This little terracotta illustrates his taste for the fashion trend that emerged during the period of the Directory, that of the "Incroyables et Merveilleuses": the famous protagonists of the Greek myth of the Judgment of Paris, half camouflaged in a cleverly modeled grove - As if to hide the immodest behavior of the goddesses, dressed in "Greek" costumes. The presence of many contemporary attributes, such as an umbrella, frills and ribbon and the broad hats transforms this tragic scene that sealed the fate of Troy in a satirical scene. More The Judgment of Paris

Eugène Ladreyt born onin Sauzet (Drôme) and died onin Paris is a cartoonist , sculptor and ceramist French .

Eugène was passionate about drawing since his childhood. His parents having opposed any artistic career, he enlisted in the army before working for a railway company and then at the offices of Mont-de-Piété in Paris .

Self- taught artist, Ladreyt began to publish his works in 1859 3 . The following year, he produced several drawings for the Fun Journal and thus began his collaboration with numerous newspapers and satirical magazines.

From 1876 , he gradually abandoned drawing in favor of sculpture but remained faithful to scenes of manners and humorous compositions . He thus produced a large number of statuettes and groups in polychrome terracotta. He gave several copies to the Musée de Valence and to that of Montélimar.

His work earned him an honorable mention at the Universal Exhibition of 1878 and a silver medal at that of 1885 8 as well as the awards of academy officer 9 in 1890 10 .

Eugène Ladreyt died in Paris on March 28, 1898. More on Eugène Ladreyt

 Eugène Marioton, Paris, 1854 - 1933 
The Farewells of Jason, c. 1882 
Terracotta relief
h: 29,70 w: 37,50 d: 3,80 cm
Private Collection

Jason, in Greek mythology, leader of the Argonauts and son of Aeson, king of Iolcos in Thessaly. His father’s half-brother Pelias seized Iolcos, and thus for safety Jason was sent away to the Centaur Chiron. Returning as a young man, Jason was promised his inheritance if he fetched the Golden Fleece for Pelias, a seemingly impossible task. After many adventures Jason abstracted the fleece with the help of the enchantress Medea, whom he married. On their return Medea murdered Pelias, but she and Jason were driven out by Pelias’ son and had to take refuge with King Creon of Corinth. Later Jason deserted Medea for Creon’s daughter; this desertion and its consequences formed the subject of Euripides’ Medea. More on Jason

Eugène Marioton, born in Paris on April 7, 1857, was a French sculptor working primarily in the medium of bronze. His works follow the traditions of Neoclassicism, consisting of small, cast bronze sculptures of historic French leaders as well as ancient Greek and Roman figures. He participated regularly in the Society of French artists, jurying the sculpture section of the salon in 1905. Before his death in 1933, Marioton received several accolades for his work, including a prize from the Society of Fine Arts and a young artist grant from the General Council of the Seine in 1884. More on Eugène Marioton

Unsigned, 19th century
The wife of Dionysus, Princess Ariadne, on a panther
Ivory
H 7 cm.
Private Collection

Dionysus  is the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness, fertility, theatre and religious ecstasy in Greek mythology. Wine played an important role in Greek culture with the cult of Dionysus the main religious focus for unrestrained consumption. He may have been worshipped as early as c. 1500–1100 BC by Mycenean Greeks; other traces of the Dionysian-type cult have been found in ancient Minoan Crete. His origins are uncertain, and his cults took many forms; some are described by ancient sources as Thracian, others as Greek. In some cults, he arrives from the east, as an Asiatic foreigner; in others, from Ethiopia in the South. He is a god of epiphany, "the god that comes", and his "foreignness" as an arriving outsider-god may be inherent and essential to his cults. He is a major, popular figure of Greek mythology and religion, becoming increasingly important over time, and is included in some lists of the twelve Olympians. Dionysus was the last god to be accepted into Mt. Olympus. He was the youngest and the only one to have a mortal mother. His festivals were the driving force behind the development of Greek theatre. He is sometimes categorised as a dying-and-rising god. More on Dionysus

Ariadne, in Greek mythology, daughter of Pasiphae and the Cretan king Minos. She fell in love with the Athenian hero Theseus and, with a thread or glittering jewels, helped him escape the Labyrinth after he slew the Minotaur, a beast half bull and half man that Minos kept in the Labyrinth. Here the legends diverge: she was abandoned by Theseus and hanged herself; or, Theseus carried her to Naxos and left her there to die, and she was rescued by and married the god Dionysus. More on Ariadne



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