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an image of a white marble box with a group of people on ita statue of a man holding a sword in front of a group of peoplea white sculpture of a group of people on horsebacka marble relief of a group of people on horsebacka statue of a man holding a child in his armsan image of a stone relief of a battle between two men and animalsa very large vase with a lot of carvings on it
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66 - Sarcophagus depicting the Galatomachia, Rome, 17th–18th cent…
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Estimate €120,000 - €150,000
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Description
Sarcophagus depicting the Galatomachia, Rome, 17th–18th century H. 65 x 220 x 70 cm Carved in white marble in high relief. The front of the sarcophagus is entirely occupied by a complex battle scene inspired by the iconography of the Galatomachy, a theme derived from the Hellenistic tradition and widely adopted in Roman funerary sculpture of the Imperial period. The composition is structured as a rapid succession of groups of combatants – horsemen and foot soldiers, fallen figures and rearing horses – arranged in a dense interweaving of bodies and diagonal lines that lends the scene a marked sense of dynamism.The warriors, depicted wearing helmets, short tunics, cloaks and armaments of classical origin, are shown at the climax of the battle. The alternation of standing, fallen and kneeling figures, together with the twisting of the bodies and the agitation of the horses, accentuates the pathos of the representation and bears witness to the 17th-century sculptor’s desire to revive the dramatic language of ancient sculpture.The iconographic model belongs to the tradition of battles between the Greeks and the Galatians, which developed within the context of Hellenistic art in Pergamon and was subsequently assimilated by Roman figurative culture. During the Imperial period, this subject also took on a symbolic meaning, alluding to the victory of civilisation over barbarism and, more generally, of order over chaos.The work forms part of the broader 17th-century phenomenon of the rediscovery, study and reinterpretation of antiquity, which was particularly vibrant in Rome, where sarcophagi, reliefs and classical fragments constituted an inexhaustible source of models for sculptors and antiquarians. The compositional structure, in fact, bears clear parallels with Roman sarcophagi from the Antonine period, characterised by the almost complete saturation of the figurative field and the overlapping of combatants arranged across different planes of depth.Among the most significant iconographic comparisons is the famous Ammendola Sarcophagus, housed in the Capitoline Museums, alongside other sarcophagi depicting scenes of the Galatomachy produced in Rome during the 2nd century AD. These models, already well known through Roman antiquarian collections in the modern era, exerted a considerable influence on sculptural production between the 16th and 17th centuries.This specimen therefore constitutes a significant Baroque reinterpretation of a Roman funerary prototype, in which the archaeological repertoire is drawn upon not through slavish imitation, but through a freer emphasis on movement, the depth of the relief and the narrative intensity.This lot is accompanied by a certificate of free circulation. The lot may be viewed by appointment only.
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About the sale Fine Art
Auction location
Auction time 11/12/2026 at 3:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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