Pair of Children, France, 1820

Our couple belongs to the production that established itself between the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century which recalls the sculpture of antiquity, sometimes reproducing it faithfully, while others using it as a reference to draw inspiration from. Certainly, in this field, we must remember the work of Francesco Righetti (1749-1819), a pupil of Luigi Valadier, who specialized in the execution from antiquity of famous sculptural groups not only drawn from Roman prototypes but also Baroque, influencing the neoclassical production of the end of the century.

Studies to date have attributed similar busts on the market to Parisian production. Having no references, we seem to be able to hypothesize that it is a sculptor trained in Rome. In fact, the two bronzes in question derive from the Baroque plastic production. They refer to two busts attributed to François Duquesnoy (1597-1643); French sculptor active in Bernini’s Baroque Rome, whose production is mainly Italian. In fact, a clear point of reference can also be found in the sculptural corpus of the artist, in particular in the putti and cherub heads made for the altar of the Cappella della Misericordia, in Santa Maria Argentea, Norcia.