The Medici Apollo or Apollino (in frgaments)
possibly British School
Category
Art / Sculpture
Date
101 AD - 200 AD - 1701 - 1799
Materials
Marble
Measurements
60 x 300 mm x 540 mm
Collection
Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire
NT 107890
Summary
Marble, the Medici Apollo or Apollino (in fragments), British or Italian School, antique with 18th century restorations. Part of a marble copy of the Medici Apollo or Apollino (Uffizi, Florence) broken into eight fragments. The fragments formed part of a copy of a celebrated Roman marble formerly in the Villa Medici, Rome, now in the Uffizi. The antique statue shows Apollo as an young man, nude, leaning in relaxed contrapposto against a tree trunk. The proper right arm is raised and bent at the elbow, the forearm and hand rest on the crown of the head. Apollo's quiver full of arrows is tied to the tree trunk. The statue has long been considered a Roman copy of a lost figure by Praxtiteles. It was moved to Florence with the Niobe Group in 1769-70 and by the end of 1770 it was placed in the Tribuna of the Uffizi (see Haskell and Penny 1981, pp. 146-8, no. 7, fig. 76). There is a cast of the Apollino in the Marble Hall of Kedleston Hall (NT 109002); there is no evidence to suggest that the fragments of this statue are associated with that cast.
Full description
The fragments which remain of the Apollino are: The base stone, broken in two, with the remains of Apollo's feet and tree trunk attached. The proper right foot is attached to the base stone and is relatively intact, but broken at the top of the ankle. It contains the remains of a repair or fixing dowel. The proper left foot is broken in two, with three toes attached to the base stone but the fourth and little toe missing. The rest of the proper left foot is a separate fragment, and includes the sole and heel of the foot, broken off at the ankle. Fragment of the tree trunk belonging to the base stone; a quiver tied to one of the branches of the tree trunk (broken off). The arrows have broken off. Fragment of Apollo's proper right arm, bent at the elbow. Isolated fragment, with ribbon tie, probably from the tree trunk. The head of Apollo (NT 107891), broken at the neck. Part of the body of Apollo, his armless torso and legs broken off beyond the knee. The right arm was raised and left arm lowered. The arms have broken off at the shoulders and head broken off at the collar bone. The fragment is badly scratched, with signs of modern resin repair at the left shoulder. There is a round dowel location at the knee break on the left leg, but not on the right leg, indicative that a lot has been removed on the right leg and that the body did not require restructuring. The penis has been broken away and, judging by the bruising around it, this is the result of vandalism. A copper dowel remains in place indicative of a fig leaf or a change of design. Alice Rylance-Watson 2019
Credit line
Kedleston Hall, The Scarsdale Collection (acquired with the help of the National Heritage Memorial Fund and transferred to The National Trust in 1987)
Makers and roles
possibly British School , sculptor