A FRENCH PATINATED BRONZE FIGURE OF ARIADNE

First recorded in 1512 as having recently been acquired by the Pope (Julius II) from Angelo Maffei and taken to the Belvedere, the ancient original of a reclining Ariadne was later mounted on a carved marble sarcophagus and installed as a fountain in a corner of the statue court. In 1797, the statue was ceded to the French and taken to Paris, where it was displayed in the Musée Central des Arts from 1800 to 1815, when it was returned to Rome.