£2,000 - £3,000
AFTER ANTONIO CANOVA, ITALIAN, 1757 - 1821, A LARGE PAIR OF 19TH CENTURY GARDEN SCULPTED STONE MODELS, RECUMBENT LIONS.
(h 56cm x d 40cm x w 116cm)
N.B. Antonio Canova worked on The Monumental Tomb of Clement XIII in St. Peter's Basilica in The Vatican from 1783 to 1792. It has the Pope kneeling in prayer, and to the left of the sarcophagus a female personification of religion dressed in Jewish sacerdotal garments; to the right, there is a semi-reclining and winged funerary Genius. The most famed elements have always been the recumbent lions, carved in travertine and therefore standing out from the rest of the monument which is in Carrara marble, but also physically projecting out from the front of the monument. The lions in simple terms act as Guardians, but also bring a unifying symmetry which is necessary because of the positioning of the figures behind. On top of this the attitudes of the lions were designed specifically to reflect characteristics of the late Pope. The one awake, on the left, representing Clement's energy, whilst to the right, the sleeping beast symbolising his moderation
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