Lot number 3231 - Auction 160
'SIMONETTA VESPUCCI ALS LAUTENSPIELERIN'

ITALIAN SCULPTOR Active 19th/20th century 'SIMONETTA VESPUCCI AS A LUTE PLAYER' Bronze, dark brown patina. H. 31.5, W. 13, D. 10 cm; weight approx. 1.92 kg. Unsigned. A fully modeled figure of a young Renaissance lady holding a lute and wearing 16th-century-style historical costume. This decorative bronze figure is inspired by the famous Florentine beauty Simonetta Vespucci (1453-1476), considered a muse of the Italian Renaissance and a favorite model of Sandro Botticelli. Depicted as a lute player in richly draped, flowing garments, the figure combines Renaissance idealism with the romanticized stylistic approach of the 19th and 20th centuries. The finely detailed modeling of the facial features, the folds of the clothing, and the musical instrument, combined with the dark brown patina, give the bronze a distinguished, impressive quality. Comparable works were created primarily as decorative "salon bronzes" modeled after Renaissance art. Part. bumped and rubbed, loss of paint.