19th CENTURY SWISS ECOLE ACCORDING TO A MODEL BY BERTEL THOR - Lot 247

Lot n° 247
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Result : 1 437EUR
19th CENTURY SWISS ECOLE ACCORDING TO A MODEL BY BERTEL THOR - Lot 247
19th CENTURY SWISS ECOLE ACCORDING TO A MODEL BY BERTEL THORVALDSEN (1770-1844) Lion of Lucerne Terracotta bas-relief Dedication "Helvetiorum Fidei ac Virtuti" (To the loyalty and bravery of the Swiss) and date "DIE X AUGUUSTI II ET III SEPTEMBRIS MDCCXCII" (Day - 10 August - 2 and 3 September 1792). August 10 - September 2 and 3, 1792) Bears the inscriptions "Haec sunt nomina eoorum qui ceciderunt// ne sacramenti fidem fallerent fortissime pugnantes ceciderunt // Solerti amicorum cura cladi superfuerunt DUCES XXVI // DUCES XVI Maillardoz . Bachmann. Reding. Eplach. Sali-Zizers. H.Diessbach. Cottrau. L. Zimmermann. WILD. CASTELBERG. CROSS. P.CLUTZ.S.MAILLARDOS. ERNEST.FORESTIER. DIESSBACH STEINBRUGG. WALTNER .J. MAILLARDOZ. MULLER. MONTMOLLIN. CASTELLA. ORCEMONT. CAPREZ. ALLEMANN CHOLLET. BOECKINNG. RICHTER." AND SECOND COLUMN: "H. SALIS-ZIZERS. DURLER. PEYFFER ALTISHCFEN / E.ZIMMERMANN. REPOND. J. ZIMMERMANN / DELUZE.A.ZIMMERMANN. CLUTZ.CIBELIN / J.MAILLARDOZ.DEVILLE CONSTANT-REBECQUE / LACORBIERE. FORESTIER. LORETAN MILITES CIRCITER DCCLX // MILITES CIRCITER DCCL HUJUS REICESTAE CIVES AERE COLLATO PERENNE MONUMENTUM POSUERE STUDIO.C.PFYFFER // ARTR A. THORWALDSEN // OPERA. AHORN" Translation: "These are the names of those who have fallen, not to the oath of allegiance to ??? O the most powerful, the fight against the fall of the friends of the care of the survivors were left by Solerti H. 67 x W. 80,3 x D. 10 cm in a moulded frame in blackened wood. Related work: Bertel Thorvaldsen, Lukas Ahorn, Lion of Lucerne, 1820-1821, sandstone, H. 6 x W. 10 m, Switzerland, Lucerne Related literature: Elena di Maio, Bjarne Jornaes, Stefanno Susinno, Bertel Thorvaldsen: 1770-1844, scultore danese a Roma, cat. exp. Rome, National Gallery of Modern Art, 1 November 1989-28 January 1990, Rome, De Luca, 1989, model no. fig. 5.B, illustrated p. 48. This terracotta bas-relief is a reduction of the sandstone monument in Lucerne, Switzerland. The commissioner of the latter, Karl Pfyffer von Altishofen, an officer of the Swiss Guards, wished to pay homage to his fellow soldiers killed defending the Tuileries Palace, which was besieged by the revolutionaries on 10 August 1792. The project was entrusted to Bertel Thorvaldsen before being executed by Lukas Ahorn (1789-1856). The Danish sculptor chose a moving and eloquent iconography to honour the memory and the courage of the soldiers. Thus, he uses the image of a dying lion, pierced by a spear, lying on two shields. One bears a fleur-de-lys designating the Kingdom of France, to which the guards remained faithful despite the King's flight, and the other the coat of arms of Switzerland. The dedication in Latin "Helvetiorum Fidei ac Virtuti", which can be translated as "To the loyalty and bravery of the Swiss", adds to this tribute. On the lower part of the monument, the names of the deceased officers are engraved, as well as the total number of guards who disappeared during the assault on the palace. The sculptor added those who subsequently succumbed to their wounds or were guillotined on September 2 and 3, 1792 (760 guards), as well as those who survived (350). The monument was inaugurated on 10 August 1821.
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