Greco Roman Busts

White painted cast stone bust sculpture after the Apollo Belvedere of classical antiquity, mounted on a rocky base. Dealer: S138XX

This beautifully detailed bronze bust by Vincenzo Gemito (Italian 1852-1929) represents the greco-roman mythological Satyr, a woodland god and follower of Dionysos, known for erotic desires and over indulgence of wine. Yes, our satyr has a mischievous and lustful smile which the artist has captured with great sense of personality. Wearing a wreath of grape leaves and grapes patinated in a greener color we notice the rudimentary horns and the pointed ears. Gracefully placed near the edge of the stepped marble base the satyr's beard overlaps the base with great sculptural effect. Vincenzo Gemito, born in Naples in 1852, is considered to be the most important Italian sculptor of the late nineteenth century and is increasingly regarded as one of its greatest draughtsmen. An orphan street child until he was adopted by a poor artisan, he was put out as an assistant to the sculptor Emanuele Caggiano at the age of nine. He then attached himself informally to the older but more progressive sculptor Stanislao Lista, who apparently encouraged him to work from street models. Having acquired the skills of modeling in clay and wax, the young man set himself up independently. In 1868 he exhibited a sculpture at the Promotrice di Belle Arti in Naples, The Card Player, that showed a Neapolitan urchin scratching his head and studying a hand of cards. The work attracted the attention of Victor Emmanuel II, king of Italy, who purchased a bronze cast of it for the Capodimonte collection, a notable honor for the sixteen-year-old sculptor. Gemito cultivated a kind of rugged realism in the interpretations of his subjects, conveyed by contrasting rough and smooth surfaces. His drawing oeuvre kept pace with his sculpture, and what has appropriately been termed his "naturalistic bizarrerie" is seen in 1876 in the terra-cotta Chinese Acrobat and also in a series of pen-and-ink studies of fisher boys, which culminated in the life-size bronze Little Fisher Boy (Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence). From 1877-1881 Gemito lived in Paris, where he was a friend of the sculptor Ernest Meissonnier, whose work could not have been more different from his own. On his return to Naples he incorporated another thread of tradition into his work, that of his classical predecessors in Pompeii and Herculaneum, which resulted in the bronze sculpture Water...

The elegant features of the young Antinous, a favourite of beloved Roman emperor Hadrian, are masterfully captured with exceptional richness in this marble bust of this beautiful boy...

A well carved life size bust in statuary Carrara marble. The subject dressed in classical Roman attire, signed by the artist and sculpture Achille Cason...

A finely cast Italian patinated bronze bust of a classical figure, possibly Bacchus, on a Siena marble soccle. Probably cast by the Chiurazzi Foundry, Naples, circa 1860-1880.

Classical patinated bronze bust of Napoleon. Signed "Chardigny". Possibly Barthelemy Francois Chardigny.

Antique Italian carved alabaster portrait sculpture depicts bust of the Greek Artemis the Huntress of Versailles (Roman Diana), 19th century Measures: 14" H x 8" W x 5" D Addit...

Oversized antique carved alabaster bust depicts Psyche and Amor, also known as Psyche Receiving Cupid's First Kiss (1798), by François Gérard, o...

Antique carved stone liberated female Bacchanalian, with grapes flowing from her hair. Likely to be a Maenad, a sort of cult follower of Bacchus the Roman God of Wine (Dionysus in Gr...

Antique Classical hand-carved marble sculpture of young Caesar Augusto, closely replicating the original currently housed in the Vatican Museum, accession number from Strong Museum, ...

This is a copy of Delphi also known as Heniokhos (rein holder). It is one of the most famous Ancient Greek statues in existence and probably the most beautiful of the bronzes. He was...

FINE SCULPTED MARBLE BUST OF A ROMAN GENTLEMAN Unsigned, Italy, c. 19th Century Of positively exceptional form and clarity, this nearly life-size bust of a Roman Gentleman is scu...