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128
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An alabaster group depicting a young boy holding two puppies…
See original version (French)
128
-
An alabaster group depicting a young boy holding two puppies…
See original version (French)
Estimate €1,200 - €1,800
Voluntary lot
Description
An alabaster group depicting a young boy holding two puppies in his arms
Italy or France, 16th century
Traces of polychromy; former restorations and losses; resting on a metal plinth from a later period
H: 26 cm; Ht: 32 cm
Could this sculpture have come from a funerary monument? From the 12th century onwards, animals – notably lions and dogs – were depicted at the feet of recumbent figures as protectors of the deceased in the afterlife. Here, the child is standing, holding two puppies in his arms. A symbol of loyalty and faith, the dog may also be regarded as the guide for the deceased to the afterlife.
This theme has parallels dating back to antiquity, notably in a marble sculpture depicting a child holding a dog, created in the 1st century AD after a Greek model from the 3rd century BC, now in the Musée de la Romanité in Nîmes. It also reappears during the Renaissance in a marble sculpture attributed to Tommaso Fiamberti (active c. 1480–1525), held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (41.100.237). These parallels may indicate a direct or indirect familiarity with ancient models and their reinterpretations during the Renaissance.
See original version (French)
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Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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