Lot 162: Auguste Seysses (1862-1946) Art Nouveau Bronze

Title" "Phryné" Gilt Bronze with 1900 Exposition Universalle Medalle D'OR Stamp, and signed A Seysses . The Gilt shows multiple patinas (see hair) measures 25.98" (66 cm) with a carved and shaped marble base. Phryne (born c. 371 BC) was an ancient Greek courtesan from the fourth century BC. She is best known for her trial for impiety, where she was defended by the orator Hypereides...Athenaeus provides many anecdotes about Phryne. He praises her beauty, writing that on the occasion of the festivals of the Eleusinia and Poseidonia she would let down her hair and step naked into the sea. This would have inspired the painter Apelles to create his famous picture of Aphrodite, Rising from the Sea. Supposedly the sculptor Praxiteles, who was also her lover, used her as the model for the statue of the Aphrodite of Knidos, the first nude statue of a woman from ancient Greece. [Wiki}