1 of 4

Bartolomeo Cavaceppi
Bust of the Roman emperor Nero, part of the Julio-Claudia dinasty
1775

$18,062.79List Price

About the Item

The plaster bust under discussion here belongs to a set of ten busts of Roman emperors, eight in terracotta and two in plaster, from the Torlonia family's collections in Rome . The numerous Classical sculptures and all of the models based on Classical work, in plaster and in terracotta, which were found in Cavaceppi's workshop when he died in 1799 and of which the Accademia di San Luca in Rome had been named sole heir, entered the Torlonia collections for the sum of 10,000 scudi in 1800 . The workshop material – now split between several private collections andthe Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia in Rome – acquired by Marquis Giovanni Torlonia through a holding company whose shareholders included Giuseppe Valadier and Vincenzo Pacetti, the man behind the whole operation and the drafter of two inventories dated 1800 and 1802 listing all of the works (1,115 pieces) purchased by the company through the Marquis Torlonia , included a large number of plaster copies of Classical work, Classical sculptures, and above all, the majority of the terracotta models that Cavaceppi had made in the course of his long and prestigious career alongside Johan Joachim Winckelmann, Giambattista Piranesi and Anton Raphael Mengs, with whom he had shared the protection of one of the most learned and sophisticated collectors of antiquities in the 18th century, Cardinal Alessandro Albani. The "Libro delle sculture della Collezione Cavaceppi che sono in società delli Signori Marchese Torlonia, Vincenzo Pacetti e Giuseppe Valadier" ["Book of the sculptures in the Cavaceppi Collection which are in the company of Messrs. Marquis Torlonia, Vincenzo Pacetti and Giuseppe Valadier"], written by Pacetti in 1800 before Torlonia had finalised the purchase and now part of the Lanciani Collection in the Biblioteca di Archeologia e Storia dell'Arte del palazzo di Venezia in Rome (Lanciani Manuscript 5), records under number 143 "Twelve small busts of the Caesars" . The bust of Nero under discussion here belongs to this set, of which ten busts are still extant while two have been lost.Other terracotta busts of Roman emperors by Cavaceppi – based on Classical models but larger than the one under discussion here from the Torlonia collections, although they clearly share the same technique and style – are to be found in the Museo del Palazzo di Venezia in Rome. They, too, come from the Torlonia collections, having entered the collection of singer Evan Gorga early in the 20th century, a collection which Gorga subsequently made over to the Italian state in 1949 to settle his debts with the inland revenue. Cavaceppi is thought to have used these small terracotta busts, like all the plaster or terracotta models based on Classical originals found in his workshop, not simply as tools for the study of Classical sculpture but as a sample collection and as models for his workshop subsequently to translate into marble for wealthy patrons on the Grand Tour and for the Roman aristocracy, or for casting in bronze by such celebrated Roman foundries as that of the Zoffoli family, with whom Cavaceppi is recorded as enjoying professional ties of precisely that nature. The fact that both the smaller and the larger terracotta busts were used for this purpose also explains why Cavaceppi occasionally modelled them without a plinth (albeit not in this instance, since this bust still has its original plinth). This allowed him not to undermine their potential as archetypes subsequently translated into marble through the complex procedure of wire transport or into bronze through the creation of wax models.In the course of his long, prolific and prestigious career, Cavaceppi collected in his celebrated workshop – situated between Via del Babuino and Vicolo di Gesù e Maria, a goal invariably sought out by the "Grand Tourists" – a considerable quantity of sculptural material and terracotta models based on Classical sculptures, which not only served as a day-to-day tool of the trade, as we have seen, but was also intended to form the core of an ambitious plan, which in the event never came to fruition, to establish a private academy alongside his sculpture workshop.

Creator:
Bartolomeo Cavaceppi (1716 - 1799)
Creation Year:
1775
Dimensions:
Height: 15.75 in (40 cm)Width: 11.82 in (30 cm)
Medium:
Plaster
Period:
Late 18th Century
Condition:
Gallery Location:
Rome, IT
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU95913570941

20th Century Nude Sculptures

Materials

Plaster

Anatomical Sculpture of Nude Male "L'Ecorche" after Jean Antoine Houdon, 20th century

$1,385

H 29.75 in W 8 in D 8 in

Yves Klein Blue Earth Sculpture IKB Pigment Plaster Cast in Plexiglas Box

By Yves Klein

Located in Paris, FR

Concieved in 1957, this edition started to be executed in 1988 IKB pigment and synthetic resin on plaster cast, in plexiglas, signed Rotraut Klein Moquay and numbered HC XXX/L on the base on a label affixed under the base. 300 editions numbered from “1/300” to “300/300″ 50 editions numbered from”HCI/L” à “HC L/L” H. 36 cm With the Plexiglas box: 41.5 x 29.5 x 29.5 cm Yves Klein is an influential French conceptual artist who works in a wide variety of fields. Arguably best known for his use of a very vibrant shade of blue, he began to create his monochrome series in the 1950s by developing and patenting his own signature shade known as IKB or International Klein Blue. Born April 28, 1928 in Nice, the artist founded the New Realism movement with the art critic Pierre Restany...

Category

1980s Post-War Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Plaster, Synthetic Resin, Pigment

Yves Klein
Yves Klein Blue Earth Sculpture IKB Pigment Plaster Cast in Plexiglas Box, 1988

$78,272

H 16.34 in W 11.62 in D 11.62 in

"The Wages Of Doing Everything Correctly Is Also Death" Surrealism

By Jedediah Morfit

Located in Philadelphia, PA

"The Wages Of Doing Everything Correctly Is Also Death" is an original piece by Jedediah Morfit made from fiberglass reinforced plaster and paint. This piece measures 26.25”h x 23”w ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Fiberglass, Plaster, Paint

Jedediah Morfit
"The Wages Of Doing Everything Correctly Is Also Death" Surrealism, 2024

$2,400

H 26.5 in W 23 in D 1.75 in

ZEHUT (Identity)

Located in PARIS, FR

Taking its name from the seven-tablet Babylonian creation myth, Enūma Elish unfolds across sculpture, video, engraving, and performance — summoning ancient mythologies into contempor...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Byzantine Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Stone, Limestone

Elisheva Revah
ZEHUT (Identity), 2024

$10,476

H 24.41 in W 19.69 in D 2.76 in

Contemporary Sculpture Hybrid Animal Bright Blue Orange Plaster Acrylic

By Polly Little

Located in Buffalo, NY

Hybrid II by Polly Little (2022). Plaster and acrylic paint.

Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Plaster, Acrylic

Polly Little
Contemporary Sculpture Hybrid Animal Bright Blue Orange Plaster Acrylic, 2022

$200

H 10 in W 8 in D 5 in

Bait (Home)

Located in PARIS, FR

Taking its name from the seven-tablet Babylonian creation myth, Enūma Elish unfolds across sculpture, video, engraving, and performance — summoning ancient mythologies into contempor...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Byzantine Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Stone

Elisheva Revah
Bait (Home), 2025

$9,513

H 24.41 in W 19.69 in D 2.76 in

Edward Carter Preston - Athena - 20th Century British Plaster Sculpture Figure

Located in London, GB

EDWARD CARTER PRESTON (1885-1965) Athena Signed: E CARTER PRESTON Bronzed plaster 59 cm., 23 ¼ in. high Edward Carter Preston is best known as the designe...

Category

Early 20th Century Realist Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Plaster

Edward Carter Preston
Edward Carter Preston - Athena - 20th Century British Plaster Sculpture Figure, 1920

$3,446

H 23.23 in W 7.09 in D 5.91 in

Richard Garbe - Helios - Early 20th Century British patinated plaster sculpture

By Richard Garbe

Located in London, GB

RICHARD LOUIS GARBE, RA (1876-1957) Helios Signed and dated 1929 Plaster with patinated surface 86 cm., 33 ¾ in. high Garbe was born in Dalston, London, the son of Gustave Garbe,...

Category

Early 20th Century Art Deco Nude Sculptures

Materials

Plaster

Richard Garbe
Richard Garbe - Helios - Early 20th Century British patinated plaster sculpture, 1929

$7,582

H 33.86 in W 17.33 in

The Falconer, Art Deco British Plaster Sculpture by Richard Garbe RA

By Richard Garbe

Located in London, GB

RICHARD GARBE, RA (1876-1957) The Falconer Signed and dated on the reverse: Richard Garbe, ARA / 1932 Patinated plaster 49.5 cm., 19 ½ in. high Proven...

Category

1930s Art Deco Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Plaster

Richard Garbe
The Falconer, Art Deco British Plaster Sculpture by Richard Garbe RA, 1932

$5,514

H 19.49 in W 9.45 in D 5.12 in

We Are All In

Located in Lincoln, RI

"We Are All In" is a wall hung sculpture depicting a series of arm/hand outlines overlapping. I was referencing a sports team ritual of standing in a circle before or after a game. ...

Category

2010s Abstract Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Plaster, Acrylic

Ben Watkins
We Are All In, 2012

$750

H 22 in W 22 in D 1.5 in

More Ways To Browse

Marble Busts Of Roman Emperors

Roman Emperor Bust

Roman Emperor Sculpture

Caesar Bust

Bust Plinth

Bronze Bust Of Roman Emperor

Nero Bust

Roman Marble Satyr

Salvador Dali Last Supper

Sandstone Couple Sculpture

Sax Appeal

Sculpture Bronze Boy Reading

Sculpture By Lucy Kinsella

Bartolomeo Cavaceppi
Bust of the Roman emperor Nero, part of the Julio-Claudia dinasty
1775

About the Item

You May Also Like

20th Century Nude Sculptures

Anatomical Sculpture of Nude Male "L'Ecorche" after Jean Antoine Houdon, 20th century

1980s Post-War Figurative Sculptures

Yves Klein
Yves Klein Blue Earth Sculpture IKB Pigment Plaster Cast in Plexiglas Box, 1988

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Sculptures

Jedediah Morfit
"The Wages Of Doing Everything Correctly Is Also Death" Surrealism, 2024

21st Century and Contemporary Byzantine Figurative Sculptures

Elisheva Revah
ZEHUT (Identity), 2024

2010s Contemporary Figurative Sculptures

Polly Little
Contemporary Sculpture Hybrid Animal Bright Blue Orange Plaster Acrylic, 2022

21st Century and Contemporary Byzantine Figurative Sculptures

Elisheva Revah
Bait (Home), 2025

Early 20th Century Realist Figurative Sculptures

Edward Carter Preston
Edward Carter Preston - Athena - 20th Century British Plaster Sculpture Figure, 1920

Early 20th Century Art Deco Nude Sculptures

Richard Garbe
Richard Garbe - Helios - Early 20th Century British patinated plaster sculpture, 1929

1930s Art Deco Figurative Sculptures

Richard Garbe
The Falconer, Art Deco British Plaster Sculpture by Richard Garbe RA, 1932

2010s Abstract Figurative Sculptures

Ben Watkins
We Are All In, 2012

Recently Viewed

More Ways To Browse

Bartolomeo Cavaceppi Bust of the Roman emperor Nero, part of the Julio-Claudia dinasty1775

About the Item

You May Also Like

20th Century Nude Sculptures

Anatomical Sculpture of Nude Male "L'Ecorche" after Jean Antoine Houdon, 20th century

1980s Post-War Figurative Sculptures

Yves KleinYves Klein Blue Earth Sculpture IKB Pigment Plaster Cast in Plexiglas Box, 1988

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Sculptures

Jedediah Morfit"The Wages Of Doing Everything Correctly Is Also Death" Surrealism, 2024

21st Century and Contemporary Byzantine Figurative Sculptures

Elisheva RevahZEHUT (Identity), 2024

2010s Contemporary Figurative Sculptures

Polly LittleContemporary Sculpture Hybrid Animal Bright Blue Orange Plaster Acrylic, 2022

21st Century and Contemporary Byzantine Figurative Sculptures

Elisheva RevahBait (Home), 2025

Early 20th Century Realist Figurative Sculptures

Edward Carter PrestonEdward Carter Preston - Athena - 20th Century British Plaster Sculpture Figure, 1920

Early 20th Century Art Deco Nude Sculptures

Richard GarbeRichard Garbe - Helios - Early 20th Century British patinated plaster sculpture, 1929

1930s Art Deco Figurative Sculptures

Richard GarbeThe Falconer, Art Deco British Plaster Sculpture by Richard Garbe RA, 1932

2010s Abstract Figurative Sculptures

Ben WatkinsWe Are All In, 2012

Recently Viewed

More Ways To Browse

Bartolomeo Cavaceppi
Bust of the Roman emperor Nero, part of the Julio-Claudia dinasty
1775

Yves Klein
Yves Klein Blue Earth Sculpture IKB Pigment Plaster Cast in Plexiglas Box, 1988

Jedediah Morfit
"The Wages Of Doing Everything Correctly Is Also Death" Surrealism, 2024

Elisheva Revah
ZEHUT (Identity), 2024

Polly Little
Contemporary Sculpture Hybrid Animal Bright Blue Orange Plaster Acrylic, 2022

Elisheva Revah
Bait (Home), 2025

Edward Carter Preston
Edward Carter Preston - Athena - 20th Century British Plaster Sculpture Figure, 1920

Richard Garbe
Richard Garbe - Helios - Early 20th Century British patinated plaster sculpture, 1929

Richard Garbe
The Falconer, Art Deco British Plaster Sculpture by Richard Garbe RA, 1932

Ben Watkins
We Are All In, 2012