Lot 78: A CARVED WHITE MARBLE BUST OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT

A CARVED WHITE MARBLE BUST OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT
CIRCLE OF TULLIO LOMBARDO (D. 1532), SECOND QUARTER 16TH CENTURY
Depicted looking heavenwards and slighty to dexter, with deeply carved curling hair and with elaborately carved headdress decorated with a mask in relief; on an associated circular marble socle and square plinth; a section of the chest carved separately; minor chips, losses and weathering
21¾ in. (56.3 cm.) high; 29 in. (73.7 cm.) wide

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
F. Haskell and N. Penny, Taste and the Antique - The Lure of Classical Sculpture 1500-1900, New Haven and London, 1981.
S. Blake McHam, The Chapel of St. Anthony at the Santo and the Development of Venetian Renaissance Sculpture, Cambridge, 1994.
A. Luchs, Tullio Lombardo and Ideal Portrait Sculpture in Renaissance Venice, 1490-1530, Cambridge, 1995.
M. Ceriana ed., Gli Este a Ferrara - Il Camerino di alabastro - Antonio Lombardo e la Scultura all'antica, Ferrara, 2004.

Probably acquired in the 19th century by the Middleton family for Shrubland Park, Suffolk, either by Sir William (d. 1860) and Lady Anne Middleton or Jane Ann Broke (d. 1933) wife of James St. Vincent Saumarez, 4th Baron de Saumarez (d. 1937).
Sotheby's, sale on the premises, 19, 20 and 21 Sepember 2006, lot 997.

While an edict whereby no-one but the bronze sculptor Lysippos, the painter Apelles and the gem-cutter Pyrgoteles could make Alexander the Great's portrait is certainly fictitious, these three artists virtually created the iconography of royal portraiture that became central to the Western artistic tradition. Lysippos established the heroic-ruler portrait as a distinct genre and Apelles painted Alexander with the attributes of the gods. Moreover, both sculptor and painter represented the King in narrative scenes: the battles, hunts and processions that became the staples of later royal iconography. While all three artists were technical virtuosos, it was Lysippos that created one of the most easily identifiable personages in portraiture by cleverly blending the subtle idealisation of the king's features with realistic detail.

Although none of the images by these artists is known to have survived, they influenced a vast number of carved busts, as well as portraits on gemstones and coins, which are extant. These all share immediately recognisable characteristics such as the handsome, youthful and clean-shaven face, the dishevelled hair, the focused or pensive look and occasionally the horns of Ammon Ra. Although the horns are now lost, all these characteristics feature on the enigmatic marble bust offered here. Similarly, another common feature amongst some of the Hellenistic representations of the young king was the inclusion of the royal diadem, which has been transformed into the present headdress.
A great number of potential sources, and possibly even an identical prototype, could have influenced the carving of this Alexander. Consider, for example, the most famous classical images of Alexander in the Uffizi, Florence, and the Dioscuri, also known as Alexander and Buchephalus, in the Piazza del Quirinale, Rome (illustrated in Haskell and Penny, op. cit., nos. 2 and 3 respectively), along with other works such as the Antinous in the Villa Albani, Rome, and the Ludovisi Mars, in the Museo delle Terme, Rome (ibid, nos. 6 and 58), where one can see the same youthful, idealised and heroic type that is represented with a strong, rounded face, Greek nose, dishevelled hair and emotive look that is present on the bust of Alexander offered here.

This observation of antique sculpture was widespread in Italy, and was particularly prevalent in Venice and the surrounding area, including Padua, where the university fostered a circle of intellectuals who patronised the arts. Artists such as Mantegna and Riccio were instrumental in creating a modern interpretation of antique art forms, thereby helping to engender an appreciation of the classical world among their contemporaries.

At the forefront of this movement was also the Lombardo family of sculptors, and it is within the context of their work that the present bust must be considered. The classicising features of Alexander's face recall the facial types that Antonio Lombardo applied to the female figures on the marble relief of the Miracle of the Newborn Child, in the Santo, Padua (see McHam, op. cit., pls. 55, 58-60.). Consider, for example, the similarities in the boldly modelled brow that terminates in a long Greek nose, and the square jawlines that round off in an androgynous chin and in the fleshily modelled, parted lips. These details demonstrate that both Lombardo and the author of the Alexander were well-versed in the classical canons that dictated the facial types, but that they were also interested in applying to them a contemporary sense of expression and/or humanism. In the slightly later works of Antonio's brother, Tullio, one can see the same application of these canons but with an even more pronounced sense of drama and humanism. One need only look at the figures on his marble relief of the Miracle of the Miser's Heart (1520-25, Santo, Padua) to see the expressiveness of the faces and the lively poses, and as a direct parallel to the present bust, a lively treatment of the hair. While the Alexander's hair is subtly different from that of Tullio's figures, it is possible to see how the latter's style influenced the author of the Alexander bust. The same can be said of Tullio's relief of A Couple in the Ca' d' Oro, Venice (Luchs, op. cit., pls. 75-80) which bears a number of stylistic parallels but also includes the elaborate, and highly unusual, hairnet on the woman. Whilst the carving of Alexander's headdress is different, it may suggest that the latter's author was familiar with the stylistic quirks of Tullio and his workshop. In looking at other artists known to have been operating within the Lombardos' circle, such as Simone Bianco and Giammaria Mosca (for comparisons with Mosca, Bianco as well as others see Luchs, op. cit., nos. 178-184, ad 186-190 and Ceriana, op. cit., nos. 39, 68 and 71) one can find abundant stylistic parallels, however none, so far, has provided grounds for a definitive attribution.