LOT 0421

Marble Head of the Greek Goddess Aphrodite

18TH-19TH CENTURY A.D.

15 3/4 in. (12.6 kg, 40.5 cm).

Modelled in the round as a bust of a youthful female, possibly Aphrodite with her hair bound by a narrow filet tied at the nape of the neck and the tails retained by a flat ribbon at the rear; the face perhaps modelled on the statue 'Aphrodite of Knidos' by Praxiteles; socket to crown of the head for attachment of a nimbus (now absent); mounted on a socle base.

Acquired on the Los Angeles art market.
Private collection, England.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13095-249678.

Cf. a similar neo-classical head of a Lady in Loisel, C. (ed.) Eblouissante Venise. Venise, les arts et l’Europe au XVIII siècle, Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Paris, 2018, Cat. 81, p.119.

This magnificent head of a woman with an elaborate hairstyle is in perfect harmony with the artistic works of several neo-classical sculptors of 18th century, yet subtly different from it in stylistic terms, like Giovanni Marchiori, and to the so-called stone Venus or Flora in the Museo Civico di Treviso.