A Captive Soldier - Italie (Rome), 17th century

Large Cast and Chiseled Bronze Plaque Saint Sebastian after the model by Guido Reni (Capitoline Museum) Rome, 17th century Large rectangular bronze plaque depicting the martyrdom of...

Cerberus Black painted stone Italy, 17th century Measures: 80 x 69 x 36cm (one head missing) Cerberus, cruel monster, fierce and strange, Through his wide threefold throat barks as a dog Over the multitude immers'd beneath. His eyes glare crimson, black his unctuous beard, His belly large, and claw'd the hands, with which He tears the spirits, flays them, and their limbs Piecemeal disparts (Dante, Inferno, Canto VI). Cerberus figure seated, in his role of ferocious guardian of the underworld; he shows a nervous musculature, an adherent skin which reveals the ribs, long and robust limbs; his heads are broad and the eyes set well apart. Painted in black to amplify his menacing look, the infernal guardian is depicted with his famous attributes, writhing his heads, growling and barking furiously. Cerberus, in Greek mythology, was the monstrous watchdog of the underworld – also known as the “hound of Hades” – preventing the dead from leaving, and making sure that those who entered never left. A child of Typhon and Echidna, he was part of a monstrous family, which included Orthus, the Lernaean Hydra, and the Chimaera as well. Only on three occasions Cerberus was tricked by visitors of Hades: Heracles did it with his strength, Orpheus with his music. In "The Inferno", Dante places Cerberus as the guardian of the third circle of Hell. With his three mouths, Dante saw Cerberus as a beast that was synonymous with the sin of Gluttony. Virgil gets past the monster by throwing mud in his three mouths, temporarily choking him. Very rare are the representations of Cerberus in ancient statuary...

Marble lion white marble France, probably Périgord, 17th century Small marble lion wearing a coat of arms pendant with the engraved date, ...

Large Terracotta relief of the flight into Egypt Lombardy, first half of 17th century Painted terracotta 91 x 85 x 11,5 cm This event in the early life of Christ is recounted i...

Italian Memento Mori skull Marble North of Italy, 17th century H 9 x L 7 x P 14 cm At the turn of the 16th century, they were the height of fashi...

Plateau with two breasts, attribute of Saint Agatha Southern Italy, 17th century Polychrome and gilded wood 20 x 14,5 x 15 cm Born into a noble lineage, Agatha came into the world ...

Rome, 17th century Pair of angels Gilded wood, cm h 92 - Base, cm 25 x 40 The pair of putti examined is a masterpiece of the Roman Baroque period, a period of pomp and opulence w...

A pair of late 17th Century Italian Baroque carved wood, gold gilded and polychromed Archangel sculptures mounted on Lucite bases.

Amazing Baroque sculpture of a woman wearing a crown in original paint. Her hands are missing. Colors are untouched, recently cleaned off from a thick dark coating, I have images fro...

Baroque sculpture in walnut, central Italy 17th century. The male figure, created to be seen in an elevated position with respect to the observer and originally part of a larger scul...

A early 17th century French Gargoyle. Gargoyels were originally intented as waterspouts for churches and castles but soon were used as ornamentation. A...

IMPERIAL EAGLE Italian, 17th Century sculpture in carved and gilded wood, based on a base decorated with plant motifs and masks with two claw and ball-...