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Bronze bust of Seneca or Pseudo-Seneca Italy Naples late 18th-early 19th cent

circa 1790-1810

$10,184.22
£7,580.08
€8,500
CA$13,949.84
A$15,515.26
CHF 8,101.59
MX$188,804.24
NOK 103,469.64
SEK 97,036.27
DKK 64,707.53
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About the Item

Bronze bust with brown patina depicting the pseudo-Seneca, Italy, early 19th century. The Pseudo-Seneca is a Roman bronze bust from the late 1st century B.C.. discovered in 1754 in Herculaneum's Villa of the Papyri and preserved at the National Archaeological Museum in Naples. This is the finest example found among the approximately two dozen busts depicting the same subject. It was initially believed to represent Lucius Anneus Seneca, the famous Roman philosopher of the first century CE . From the 19th century onward, the traditional thesis of a "live portrait" of Seneca has been set aside, and many other hypotheses have been proposed about the identity of the character who was the subject of the fictional portrait: either from the archaic age (Hesiod or Aesop; the iambographers Archilocus or Hippocrates), from the classical age (the playwrights Epicarmus, Aristophanes and Philemon; the tragedian Euripides), or from the Hellenistic age (the philosophers Carneades and Eratosthenes; the poets Callimachus, Apollonius Rhodius and Philitae of Cos), or even the Latin poet Lucretius. The bust features an expressive face with a thick beard and messy hair, giving it a melancholy and reflective appearance. His discovery made such a big splash in the art world that, in the early 19th century, permission was granted to Neapolitan workshops to take casts of the head to make some bronze copies. The original Seneca busts belong to this period and are of excellent quality. The bust rests on its original yellow Siena marble base. Measurements H cm 46 L cm 22
  • Creation Year:
    circa 1790-1810
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 18.12 in (46 cm)Width: 8.67 in (22 cm)
  • Medium:
    Bronze,Marble
  • Movement & Style:
    Italian School
  • Period:
    Late 18th Century
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Pistoia, IT
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU2746216652822

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