Live Auction 8524Christie's Interiors - Style & Spirit
Lot 168

A BRONZE MODEL OF A FURIETTI CENTAUR

AFTER THE ANTIQUE, BY GIACOMO (1731-1785) OR GIOVANNI ZOFFOLI (1745-1805), LATE 18TH OR EARLY 19TH CENTURY

Closed26 March 2013

Price Realised

GBP 10,625

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A BRONZE MODEL OF A FURIETTI CENTAUR
AFTER THE ANTIQUE, BY GIACOMO (1731-1785) OR GIOVANNI ZOFFOLI (1745-1805), LATE 18TH OR EARLY 19TH CENTURY
On an integrally cast bronze plinth signed to the front 'G.ZOFFOLI.F' and inscribed to the side 'APICTEAC.KAI. HAHTAC AIPOAEICEIC', on a further stepped rectangular marble base
The bronze -- 13 in. (33.1 cm.) high; 16 in. (40.5 cm.) high, overall

Specialist note

The Furietti Centaurs were discovered by Giuseppe Alessandro Furietti (1684-1764) during excavations of the domed hall at Hadrian's Villa in December 1736. A year after Furietti's death and in the face of competition from the English, they were secured by Pope Clement XIII for thirteen thousand scudi and placed in the Capitoline.

The discovery of the centaurs was celebrated by means of fine engravings by Girolamo Frezza and by 'bronzetti' cast by Francesco Righetti and Giacomo or Giovanni Zoffoli, such as the present signed version.