Plaster cast of the Barberini Minerva and Juno
Category
Art / Sculpture
Date
1800 - 1825
Materials
Plaster, painted
Measurements
500 x 240 x 45 mm
Order this imageCollection
Knole, Kent
NT 128688
Summary
A cast of the goddess Minerva wearing her crested helmet and with a serpent coiled around her, holding a bowl. The figure facing her, holding a staff, is the goddess Juno. Both figures were copied from a pair of second-century Greek candelabra on display in the Vatican Museums. Each candelabra has three reliefs on its base, one depicting Mars, Minerva and Venus, the other Juno. Jupiter and Mercury.
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)