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Old Masters Figurative Sculptures

OLD MASTERS

Encompassing centuries of change in Europe between 1300 and 1800, from booms of prosperity to bloody revolutions, Old Masters describes a wide range of artists. The informal term was derived from the title of an artist who trained in a guild long enough to become a master, such as Leonardo da Vinci, who studied in a Florence painters’ guild. However, Old Masters paintings, prints and other art is now used to refer to work made by any artist with a high level of skill in painting, drawing, sculpture or printmaking who worked during this era.

The 15th century’s expansive trade and commerce spread culture across borders. A vibrant period of art emerged, bolstered by studies of anatomy and nature that influenced a new visual realism. From Raphael and Michelangelo in the Renaissance to Rembrandt van Rijn and Johannes Vermeer in the Dutch Golden Age, artists expressed emotion, naturalism, color and light in new ways. El Greco and Paolo Veronese were leaders in the dramatic style of Mannerism, while Caravaggio and Peter Paul Rubens demonstrated the movement and meticulous detail of Baroque art.

Historically, most attention was concentrated on male artists, but recent research and exhibitions have elevated the impactful work of women such as Rachel Ruysch and Artemisia Gentileschi. In late-18th-century France, female artists like Adélaïde Labille-Guiard and Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun were prominent names. Nevertheless, access to the academies and guilds was highly restricted for women, and even those able to establish practices were expected to adhere to portraits and still lifes rather than the grand history paintings being created by men.

Find a collection of Old Masters prints, paintings, drawings and watercolors and other art on 1stDibs.

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Style: Old Masters
Antique Italian sculptor - 18/19th century terracotta sculpture - Memento Mori
Located in Varmo, IT
Terracotta sculpture - Memento mori. Italy, 18th-19th century. 16 x 25 x h 18 cm. Entirely in terracotta. - This item is sold with a certificate of authenticity with legal validi...
Category

Late 18th Century Old Masters Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Terracotta

Neoclassical sculpture in Rome- Pair of 19th century Italian scagliola - Figures
Located in Varmo, IT
Pair of scagliola sculptures - Roman figures. Italy, 19th century. 51 x 26 x h 118 cm (left) - 41 x 28 x h 118 cm (right). Entirely in scagliola. Condition report: In good general...
Category

Early 19th Century Old Masters Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Plaster

Italian master - 18th century figure sculpture - Virgin Pity - Carved Wood Paint
Located in Varmo, IT
Carved and painted wooden sculpture - Pietà - Italy, 18th century. 13 x 7 x h 22.5 cm. Entirely made of carved and polychrome painted wood. Condition report: Good state of conserv...
Category

Mid-18th Century Old Masters Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Wood, Paint

Eighteenth-century Grand Tour marble bust of Faustina the Younger
Located in London, GB
Signed and dated: ‘F. Harwood Fecit 1764’ Collections: Probably commissioned by Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon (1743-1827); Probably by descent at Gordon Castle, Banffshire to c.1948; Possibly acquired by Bert Crowther of Syon Lodge, Middlesex; Jacques Hollander (1940-2004); Christie’s, 5 December 2013, lot 101; Private collection; Sotheby’s, 2 July 2019, lot 106 Literature: John Preston Neale, Views of the seats of noblemen and gentlemen, in England, Wales and Scotland, London, 1822, vol.I, unpaginated. This marble copy of an ancient bust in the Musei Capitolini usually identified as Faustina the Younger, the daughter of Antoninus Pius and future wife of Marcus Aurelius, was made in Florence by Francis Harwood in 1764. Harwood was one of the most prolific suppliers of decorative marbles for the Grand Tour market and this finely worked example demonstrates the quality of luxury goods available to travellers to Italy. So often anonymous, this unusually signed and dated example, raises questions about the status of marble copies in the period and of sculptors such as Harwood who are known principally for ornamental work. Harwood’s origins remain obscure. He is documented living in Palazzo Zuccari with Joshua Reynolds and the Irish sculptor Simon Vierpyl at Easter 1752, he had certainly settled permanently in Florence by the following year, when he is recorded working with Joseph Wilton. He was admitted to the Florentine Academy on 12 January 1755 (as pittore Inglese, although he was described as scultore in the matriculation account). After Wilson returned to England in 1755 Harwood appears to have worked in a studio near SS. Annunziata with Giovanni Battista Piamontini who had made life-size copies of The Wrestlers and The Listening Slave for Joseph Leeson in 1754. In 1758 both sculptors were contracted to make a statue and a trophy to complete the decoration of the Porta San Gallo, Harwood completing a statue of Equality, installed the following year. By 1760 Harwood was on the brink of his most productive period as a sculptor, producing copies of celebrated antiquities for the ever-increasing audience of Grand Tour travellers and for the domestic market in London. In 1761 Harwood met the young architect James Adam who was in Italy specifically to make contact with suppliers for Robert Adam’s burgeoning practice back in Britain. The Adams offered a remarkably cohesive design package to their clients, encompassing not just architecture, but fixtures, fittings and furniture as well. Harwood was able to supply the brothers with marbles for their new interiors. At Syon, for example, Harwood produced a full-size copy of Michelangelo’s Bacchus for the new dining room the Adams had designed for Hugh Smythson, 1st Duke of Northumberland. Harwood seems to have also specialised in producing sets of library busts. In 1758 Charles Compton, 7th Earl of Northampton, a distinguished traveller commissioned a set of busts which remain in situ at Castle Ashby in Northamptonshire. It is perhaps no coincidence that the Adam brothers were producing designs for new interiors at Castle Ashby at this date. The set included representations of: Cicero, Julius Caesar, Marcus Aurelius, Faustina the Younger, Sappho, Seneca and Homer. Each of these busts Harwood seems to have replicated for multiple patrons, another Adam patron, Thomas Dundas...
Category

18th Century Old Masters Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Marble

Late 15th-century Old Master Burgundian Netherlands carved walnut figure
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Beautiful late 15th-century Burgundian Netherlandish portrait of a woman. Carved walnut. Original polychrome has been removed with traces at base and lower portions of figure. Minor ...
Category

15th Century and Earlier Old Masters Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Walnut

Erotic Sexual Mythological Marble Figural, Nude woman, Bacchante and Satyr Herm
Located in Miami, FL
Bacchic revelry. A sexy and nude curvaceous young Nymph/Bacchante makes amorous advances to a Herm - whose facial expression reflects her erotic touch. The Herm is stylized where his...
Category

Mid-19th Century Old Masters Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Marble

Nude Male Runner Bronze patinated Classical After the Antique
Located in Miami, FL
Beautifully proportioned and handsome nude male bronze with Roman classically refined features after the Antique . It looks best with a key lighting th...
Category

20th Century Old Masters Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Antique Sculpture Female Moor Venice 19th Century Gold Italy
Located in Riva del Garda, IT
Antique sculpture of a female Moor with flowering cornucopia Venice, 19th century Carved, lacquered and gilded/silvered wood Total height 202 cm (column base 82 cm, figure 120 cm) ...
Category

19th Century Old Masters Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Gold

Pair Bas-reliefs Spring Autumn Flemish Sculptor 17th Century Wood
Located in Riva del Garda, IT
Antichità Castelbarco SRLS is proud to present: Flemish sculptor of the 17th century Pair of bas-relief panels depicting the Allegory of Spring and the Allegory of Autumn Oak wood ...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Wood

Pair Carved Gilded Mirrors Gold Wood Venice 18th Century Italy Quality Baroque
Located in Riva del Garda, IT
Pair of carved and gilded mirror cabinets 'in the manner of Sansovino' Venetian (or Tuscan) carver active in the 18th century Carved and gilded wood Total frame measurements: 86 x 6...
Category

18th Century Old Masters Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Gold

Late 15th Century By Florentine School Madonna with Child Bas-relief
Located in Milano, Lombardia
Late 15th Century Florentine School Madonna with Child Bas-relief Pietra serena (a blue-gray sandstone) 85.5 x 60.5 cm Provenance: - via Stefano Bardini purchased in 1896 by Prince ...
Category

15th Century and Earlier Old Masters Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Sandstone

Saint Barbara France 16/17th Century Sculpture Wood Religious Old master Art
Located in Riva del Garda, IT
High relief panel depicting 'Saint Barbara' Southern France, 16th-17th century Polychrome carved wood with traces of gilding 64 x 32 cm. (good condition, with minor missing and cra...
Category

16th Century Old Masters Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Wood, Wood Panel

Pair Sculptures Winged Angels Wood Tuscany 17/18th Century Old master Gold Art
Located in Riva del Garda, IT
Pair of sculptures depicting two winged angels in carved wood Tuscany, late 17th century Carved, gilded and polychrome wood Dimensions: Height 64 cm - ...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Wood

17th Century Flemish Sculpture of a Religious Figure
Located in Rochester, NY
Antique carving of a saint or martyr. 17th century Flemish hardwood carving. Wonderful wear and rich color.
Category

17th Century Old Masters Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Wood

Wooden Sculptures Roman Soldiers Rome 18th Century Italy Art Gold
Located in Riva del Garda, IT
Wooden sculptures depicting a pair of full-length Roman soldiers Rome, 18th century Carved and gilded wood (walnut?) Dimensions: Maximum height (at lance) 62 cm./ Maximum width: 28 ...
Category

18th Century Old Masters Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Gold

Vanitas Vanitatum
Located in Villafranca Di Verona, IT
Numbered and limited to 8 copies Signature: Hand-signed by artist Authenticity: Sold with certificate of Authenticity from the gallery Invoice from the gallery Sculpture: bronze, me...
Category

Early 2000s Old Masters Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Metal, Bronze

Study in Green with Pearls, 2021, Matt Smith
Located in London, GB
MATT SMITH (BRITISH) Study in Green with Pearls, 2021 Black Parian, Found Ceramic, Freshwater Pearls 29 x 14 x 14 cm 11 1/2 x 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 in. (MS206) £ 4,000.00 UK-born Matt Smit...
Category

2010s Old Masters Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Ceramic, Found Objects

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20th Century Reclining Female Nude Marble Sculpture, Cleveland School Artist
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Grand Tour Bronze Figure of Seated Hermes, Early 19th Century After the Antique
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"Bighorn Sheep" Bas-relief Sculpture
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Cigar Store Indian, Early 20th Century, Carved Wood With Polychrome Decoration
Located in Cotignac, FR
A 20th Century wood carved male figure, a 'Cigar Store Indian' with original polychrome decoration. A now controversial subject, but none the less charming rendition, of a native North American man originally probably used as an advertising figure. Wonderful quality of carving capturing the stance of the man looking out to the distance, hair flowing to his back and plait to the side, all the details of his costume, his native dress and hairpipe breastplate (suggesting he is possibly a Comanche) and chest ornament, apron, trousers, mocassins, shield and arrows. The original Polychrome decoration has weathered beautifully as has the wood itself to present a sculpture that would adorn any collection or interior. Because of the general illiteracy of the populace, early store owners used descriptive emblems or figures to advertise their shops' wares. American Indians and tobacco had always been associated because American Indians introduced tobacco to Europeans. As early as the 17th century, European tobacconists used figures of American Indians to advertise their shops. Because European carvers had never seen a Native American, these early cigar-store "Indians" looked more like Africans with feathered headdresses and other fanciful, exotic features. These carvings were called "Black Boys" or "Virginians" in the trade. Eventually, the European cigar-store figure...
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Breton Wrestlers Plaster Figurative Modern Male Sculpture Female Artist LGBT WPA
Located in New York, NY
Breton Wrestlers Plaster Figurative Modern Male Sculpture Female Artist LGBT WPA Malvina Hoffman (American, 1885 - 1966) "Breton Wrestlers" 20 inches high Plaster Signed and titled BRETON WRESTLERS, PARIS, 1929 Stamped "MPI on the back of the base, likely a museum reproduction of the bronze. The Sculpture is recorded in the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database under the Control Number: IAS 9E260042. Artist's quote about the subject: "The wrestlers were done from actual Breton athletes, at St. Guenole – the tip end of Finistere in Brittany, France. After I saw them on the beach there I persuaded them to come to Paris where I could finish the details of the three positions and have them authenticated. This form of wrestling, I am told, is no longer permitted, as there were too many serious accidents, and sometimes broken necks." -M. Hoffman April 27, 1962 Born in New York City, Malvina Hoffman was a portrait sculptor of pieces that expressed the fluid movement of dancers and lofty human values. She became especially noted for her hall-of-fame portraits including Paderewski, Pavlova, Wendell Wilkie and Katharine Cornell. Many of her pieces she carved in stone, and some of them were enormous in scale including war monuments. Her masterpiece is considered to be The Races of Man, done in 1933, commissioned by the Marshall Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. It had one-hundred five separate pieces, cast in bronze, depicting people from diverse cultures. She grew up in an art-oriented environment in Manhattan where her father was a pianist and music filled the house. She attended the Brearley School and took private art classes, first studying painting with John White Alexander. Changing to sculpture, she did her first work in 1909, a portrait bust of her father who died that year leaving the family in financial straits. However, his portrait was accepted for the National Academy of Design's annual exhibition and launched her career. She studied with Herbert Adams...
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1920s Old Masters Figurative Sculptures

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Kneeling Female Nude, Bronze By Mario Korbel
Located in Norwood, NJ
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Early 20th Century Old Masters Figurative Sculptures

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Early 19th century Romantic marble sculpture - Kiss figures
Located in Varmo, IT
White marble sculpture - The Kiss. ​​19th century. 15 x 20 x h 20 cm including base, 12 x 17 x h 18 cm excluding base. Entirely in white marble, some small breaks and repairs. - ...
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Early 19th Century Old Masters Figurative Sculptures

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Harmony, 20th century bronze & green marble base, nude man and woman with lyre
Located in Beachwood, OH
Max Kalish (American, 1891-1945) Harmony, c. 1930 Bronze with green marble base Incised signature on right upper side of base 14 x 9 x 5 inches, excluding base 17 x 10 x 8 inches, including base Born in Poland March 1, 1891, figurative sculptor Max Kalish came to the United States in 1894, his family settling in Ohio. A talented youth, Kalish enrolled at the Cleveland Institute of Art as a fifteen-year-old, receiving a first-place award for modeling the figure during studies with Herman Matzen. Kalish went to New York City following graduation, studying with Isidore Konti...
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1930s Old Masters Figurative Sculptures

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Pair Bas-reliefs Spring Autumn Flemish Sculptor 17th Century Wood
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Nude Female Torso Bronze Sculpture, 20th Century Contemporary American Artist
Located in Beachwood, OH
Alan Cottrill (American, Ohio, b. 1952) Nude Female Torso, 1994 Bronze mounted to green marble base Signed, dated and numbered 14/20 verso of leg, with foundry stamp 17. in. h. x 6 i...
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Previously Available Items
Ancient style Italian sculptor - Late 18th century figure sculpture - Spinario
Located in Varmo, IT
Bronze table sculpture - Spinario (copy from the antique) - Italy, late 19th century. 11 x 14 x h 19 cm. Entirely in chiseled bronze. - The work is a late nineteenth-century copy ...
Category

Late 18th Century Old Masters Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Baroque Italian Sculptor - 17th century carved wood sculpture - God father
Located in Varmo, IT
Carved wooden sculpture - God the Father blessing - Italy, 17th century 81 x h 35 x 13 cm. Entirely in carved wood. Condition report: Good state of conservation of the sculptural ...
Category

Mid-17th Century Old Masters Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Wood

Follower of Antonio Canova - Pair of 19-20th century neoclassical sculptures
Located in Varmo, IT
Pair of sculptures in glazed scagliola - Dancers (from Canova). Italy, 19th-20th century. h 81 x 30 x 30 cm. Entirely in glazed terracotta. The sculptures take inspiration from th...
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Late 18th Century Old Masters Figurative Sculptures

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Terracotta

Georg Christian Freund, Terracotta Relief, Signed and Dated 1899
Located in Stockholm, SE
A fine terracotta relief of Venus and Cupid by Georg Christian Freund, (1821 - 1900), a Danish sculptor. Signed and dated 1899. Mounted in the original hand carved frame, possibly m...
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1890s Old Masters Figurative Sculptures

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Terracotta

Neoclassical sculpture in Rome- Late 18th century Italian marble - Old centaur
Located in Varmo, IT
White marble sculpture (Italy, 18th-19th century) - Old Centaur. 46 x 18 x h 71cm. Entirely in white marble. - The work takes up the Roman original from Villa Adriana and kept in ...
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Late 18th Century Old Masters Figurative Sculptures

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Marble

Hercules carrying the World, a sculpture after Annibale Carracci's fresco
By Annibale Carracci
Located in PARIS, FR
This vigorous terracotta was inspired by a fresco created by Annibale Carracci to decorate the ceiling of the Camerino Farnese, a room on the ground ...
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Late 17th Century Old Masters Figurative Sculptures

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Sweetheart Middle Double Serie III - Lost wax bronze, 2021
Located in Porto, 13
Love Cherries Tender Triple Serie II is an original work of art by the Dutch artist Lothar Vigelanzoon Sculptural beauty, inspired by daily life, plays an important part in Lothar Vigelandzoon’s work. He makes bronze...
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2010s Old Masters Figurative Sculptures

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Love Cherries Tender Triple Serie II - Lost wax bronze, 2021
Located in Porto, 13
Love Cherries Tender Triple Serie II is an original work of art by the Dutch artist Lothar Vigelanzoon Sculptural beauty, inspired by daily life, plays an important part in Lothar Vigelandzoon’s work. He makes bronze...
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2010s Old Masters Figurative Sculptures

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Venetian Sculpture 17th Century Wood Italian Old master Soldier Roma War Gold
Located in Riva del Garda, IT
Venetian Baroque sculptor of the 17th century Full-length wooden sculpture of a Roman soldier Wood (walnut?) Carved, polychrome and gilded Dimensions: Total height: 118 cm. - Width: 49 cm. This valuable seventeenth-century wooden sculpture, which strikes for its sumptuous beauty, highlighted by the full-length construction as well as by the all-round finishing, is a work whose stylistic models allow us to attribute the work to a baroque carver active in the Venetian area in the Six hundred. The figure, which is realistically described especially in the splendid rendering of the clothes, cadenced in the drapery and in the sinuous movement of the body, stylistically refers to the rich and successful production of northern Italian sculptures, Venetian in particular, between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It is a sculpture depicting a Roman soldier, perhaps a centurion, placed on a decorated pedestal, on which a crown is carved into which two palms of martyrdom are intertwined. This iconographic detail could make us interpret the figure as part of a more articulated religious composition, probably one of the numerous centurions that enriched a Calvary or a Via Crucis. The excellent state of conservation finally allows you to fully appreciate the quality of the carving. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The sculpture in question is sold with a certificate of authenticity and a descriptive iconographic card. We take care and organize the transport of the purchased works, both for Italy and abroad, through professional and insured carriers. It is also possible to see the painting in the Riva del Garda...
Category

17th Century Old Masters Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Gold

Angels Gold Wood Venice 18th Century Sculpture Italian Michelangelo Donatello
Located in Riva del Garda, IT
Pair of elegant sculptures depicting two angels in carved and gilded wood, complete with three-light candelabra Venice, early 18th century Carved and gilded wood Dimensions Total he...
Category

18th Century Old Masters Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Wood

Study in Blue with Black Pearls, 2021, Black Parian, Found Ceramic, Black Pearls
Located in London, GB
MATT SMITH (BRITISH) Study in Blue with Black Pearls, 2021 Black Parian, Found Ceramic, Black Freshwater Pearls 39 x 11 x 20 cm 15 1/4 x 4 1/4 x 7 3/4 in. (MS201) UK-born Matt Smit...
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2010s Old Masters Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Ceramic, Found Objects

Study in Ochre, 2021 Black Parian, Found Ceramic, Freshwater Pearls
Located in London, GB
MATT SMITH (BRITISH) Study in Ochre, 2021 Black Parian, Found Ceramic, Freshwater Pearls 31 x 17 x 12 cm 12 1/4 x 6 3/4 x 4 3/4 in. (MS203) UK-born Matt Smith is well known for his...
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2010s Old Masters Figurative Sculptures

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Old Masters figurative sculptures for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Old Masters figurative sculptures available for sale on 1stDibs. Works in this style were very popular during the 21st Century and Contemporary, but contemporary artists have continued to produce works inspired by this movement. Many Pop art paintings were created by popular artists on 1stDibs, including and Matt Smith. Frequently made by artists working with Wood, and Metal and other materials, all of these pieces for sale are unique and have attracted attention over the years. Not every interior allows for large Old Masters figurative sculptures, so small editions measuring 3 inches across are also available. Prices for figurative sculptures made by famous or emerging artists can differ depending on medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $777 and tops out at $49,552, while the average work sells for $6,455.

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