Lorenzo BARTOLINI (1777-1820) - Lot 308

Lot n° 308
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Estimation :
60000 - 80000 EUR
Lorenzo BARTOLINI (1777-1820) - Lot 308
Lorenzo BARTOLINI (1777-1820) and Studio Portrait of Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi, Princess of Piombino and Lucca, Grand Duchess of Tuscany (1777- 1820) White marble bust Titled "ELISA / BONAPARTE" in engraved letters painted in black on the front of the bust and pedestal Bears the inventory number "NMSK2344" in pencil on the reverse of the base. H. 74 cm Chip behind the right ear Provenance : - Probably Collection of Joseph FOUCHE (1759-1820); Paul Athanase Fouché d'Otranto (1801-1886), acquired by Ivan Traugott (1871-1957) before 1933, by descent until 2013, Sotheby's January 2014 sale, no. 142. - Collection of the Countess and Count Charles André Colonna Walewski, Geneva. Exhibition: On loan at least from 2009 to December 2013 at the National Museum, Stockholm, under no. NMSK2344. Related works: - Lorenzo Bartolini, Elisa Bonaparte, marble bust, signed BARTOLINI FECIT on the back and inscribed "ELISA" in black paint on the front, H. 60 cm, Blois, Château musée, n°inv. 861.175.1 ; - Workshop of Lorenzo Bartolini, Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi, after 1809, inscribed "ELISA" on the front of the bust, marble, H 58.5 cm, Museo Napoleonico, Rome, n°inv. MN 50 ; - Atelier de Lorenzo Bartolini, Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi, épouse de Félix Baciocchi, ca. 1809, white marble, inscription "ELISA" on the front of the bust, H.68 cm, Ajaccio, Palais Fesch - Musée des Beaux-Arts, n°inv MNA92411 ; - Atelier Lorenzo Bartolini, Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi, marble bust, inscription "ELISA" on the front of the bust, H.70.5 cm, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen - Neue Pinakothek München, n°inv. WAF B2 ; - Lorenzo Bartolini's workshop, Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi, marble bust, from the Palazzo della Crocetta in Firenze , Florence, Museo dell'Opificio delle Pietre Dure. Related literature: - Paul Marmotton, Les arts en Toscane sous Napoléon : la princesse Elisa, Paris, 1901, p.282 ; - Gérard Hubert, La Sculpture dans l'Italie Napoléonienne, Paris, 1964, pp.356-357; - Franca Falletti, Silvestra Bietoletti, Annarita Caputo, Lorenzo Bartolini, scultore del bello naturale, Giunti, Firenze Musei, 2011; - Jean-Marc Olivesi, Napoléon, les Bonaparte et l'Italie, Ajaccio, Ajaccio, musée Fesch, 2001, n°51, p.148 ; - P. Malgouyres, La princesse et le sculpteur : Elisa Bonaparte et Lorenzo Bartolini , in Cahiers du château et des musées de Blois, no. 35, December 2004, pp. 23-35 Temporary importation The buyer must pay import duties of 5.5% in addition to the hammer price, unless the object is immediately re-exported outside the European Union. Work in temporary import The buyer will have to pay import fees of 5.5% in addition to the hammer price, unless the buyer immediately re-exports the lot outside the European Union. This portrait of Princess Elisa Bonaparte, the Emperor's eldest sister, is in keeping with the consolidation of power through the distribution of princely portraits. Wife of the officer Felice Baciocchi, Elisa became the Lady of Carrara in 1806. Endowed with a strong temperament and a keen entrepreneurial spirit, she had her brother promote her favorite sculptor, Lorenzo Bartolini, to the post of director of the Carrara Academy, which she financed, thus helping to develop production at this famous marble quarry. Having become Grand Duchess of Tuscany in 1809, she commissioned this Italian sculptor, winner of the Grand Prix de Rome in 1802 and considered the heir to Canova, to create a series of busts of her immediate family, including her own, her husband Felix and her daughter Napoleone. The sculptor presented these portraits at the Lucquoise Academy exhibition on August 15, 1809, and was awarded a silver medal for their likeness. This portrait became her official image, after she had refused the portrait by Joseph Chinard (1756-1813), which she considered less good. The severe face, with prominent cheekbones and antique-style eyes, is flanked by a headdress adorned with a ribbon decorated with the bee, star and palm leaf, imperial symbols. Our example belongs to a series of unsigned official busts bearing the title ELISA in the lower front of the bust. These busts are in the Museo Napoleonico in Rome, the Palais Fesch in Ajaccio, the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio in Bologna and the Neue Pinakothek in Munich. They are all listed as belonging to Lorenzo Bartolini's studio in the official directory of the artist's works published online by the Pôle muséal de la ville de Florence. [ATTENTION description truncated by Drouot - Full description to be found in the catalog].
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