Plaster cast of the Barberini Venus
Category
Art / Sculpture
Date
1800 - 1825
Materials
Plaster, painted
Measurements
440 x 465 x 45 mm
Order this imageCollection
Knole, Kent
NT 128687
Summary
A figure of Venus copied from the Barberini candelabrum. A Greek work from the second century AD, formerly in the Barberini collection and now kept in the Vatican Museums. This copy has been cut from a larger cast, the hand and the flowing drapery have been cut through on either side.
Full description
Simone Bulgarini is said to have found the original candelabra in 1630 during excavations on his property in Tivoli, southeast of the so-called Small Palace of Hadrian. He gave them to the then Cardinal Francesco Barberini (1597–1679), from whose collection they were purchased in 1766 by the art dealer Thomas Jenkins (1722–1798). Jenkins then had them restored by the sculptor Bartolomeo Cavaceppi (1716–1799) and sold them to the papal collection in 1770.
Provenance
Possibly acquired by Charles, 1st Earl of Whitworth (1752 -1825).
Credit line
National Trust Collections (Knole, The Sackville Collection)