AN ITALIAN MARBLE GROUP OF CUPID AND PSYCHE, ENTITLED 'LA REVELACION DE AMOR' (LOVE AWAKENING), ON PEDESTAL

Born in Rezzato, Brescia, where he attended the School of Design, Giovanni Battista Lombardi (d. 1880) studied under Lorenzo Vela in Milan and subsequently moved to Rome to work with Pietrò Tenerani on funerary monuments, busts and reliefs of religious and classical inspiration. Establishing his own studio with his younger brother, Giovito (d. 1876), Lombardi progressed to more genre and intimate subjects and was particularly keen on oriental themes and the portrayal of Old Testament heroines (see Christie's New York, 20 October 2008, lot 219, for a figure of Ruth and lot 220, for a figure of Suzanna).

A refreshing departure from the quasi-religious themes, the present work is Lombardi's second, more elaborate version of the universally pleasing subject-matter of Cupid and Psyche, the first version being somewhat smaller, lacking the intricately-carved flora found here, and showing Cupid to Psyche's left side. The Spanish title inscription is evidence that Lombardi's work was destined not just to Italy but elsewhere in Europe and, in this case, based on its provenance when last sold at Christie's New York in 1999, South America (see A. Conconi Fedrigolli, Giovanni Battista Lombardi, 1822-1880, Brescia, 2006, pp. 167-169, cats. 64-5).