FRENCH/ITALIAN SCHOOL (MID-19TH CENTURY) AFTER GIAMBOLOGNA (FLEMISH, 1529-1608)

This bronze river god is based upon the composition by Giambologna. Derived from a wax and terracotta model now in the Bargello, and also known in a copy by Bartolommeo Cavaceppi in the Accademia di San Luca (for an illustration of the former see A. E. Brinckmann, Barock-Bozzetti, Frankfurt am Main, 1923, I, pl. 25). A pair of bronzes -- with one being almost identical to the present lot -- was formerly in the collection of Maurice de Rothschild, Paris (see A. Colasanti, Le Fontane d'Italia, Milan, 1926, pl. 101 and 102) where they are described as the Arno and the Tiber. Another pair, also dating to the mid-19th century, were in the collection of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge and sold Christie's, Paris, 23-25 February, 2009, lot 398 (115,000 Euros).