Hero waiting for Leander
Ignazio Villa (1813-1895)
Category
Art / Sculpture
Date
1862
Materials
Marble, verde antico, wood
Measurements
1000 x 430 x 520 mm
Place of origin
Florence
Order this imageCollection
Hughenden, Buckinghamshire
NT 429100
Summary
Marble, Hero waiting for Leander, Ignazio Villa (Milan 1813-1895), 1862. A marble sculpture depicting Hero, a priestess of Aphrodite, raising a torch in the proper right hand to guide her lover Leander who swims across the Hellespont towards her. One of several copies by Ignazio Villa of the original sculpture commissioned by the Marquisa Maria Luigia Serbelloni in 1849 (Sotheby's, London, 19th and 20th century sculpture, 12 December 2018, lot 5). This version sculpted in Florence, where Villa kept a studio. Base inscribed 'Villa Ign.io Firenze'. Mounted on a verde antico base and an octagonal ebonised base. Purchased by Disraeli at the International Exhibition of 1862 (cat.no. 2464); entry in Hughenden account book of 1865 records 'Hero Marble Statue given to Dizzy [Disraeli] by the Dowager Countess of Jersey - at Exhibition 1862 by (Ignazio) Villa Firenze'. By 1881 the statue was recorded in the Saloon, and mistakenly listed as a work 'by Canova'.
Makers and roles
Ignazio Villa (1813-1895), sculptor
References
Marconi and Matucci 2016: Elena Marconi and Benedetta Matucci, 'Ignazio Villa: un eclettico dell’800 da riscoprire attraverso alcune inedite sculture tra Palazzo Pitti e la sua Palazzina-studio a Firenze', MDCCC 1800, vol. 5, July 2016, pp. 25-43 Gunn 1982-1997: J.A.W Gunn [et al] (eds.), Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield, Benjamin Disraeli Letters, Toronto, Buffalo and London, 1982-1997, vol. VIII, 1860-1864, p. 204, letter 3709, note 3, p. 429, Hughenden Renovations 1862-1864, November.