Ganymede
workshop of Matthew Brettingham the Younger (1725 - 1803)
Category
Art / Sculpture
Date
circa 1758
Materials
Painted plaster
Measurements
1530 x 870 mm
Place of origin
London
Order this imageCollection
Kedleston Hall, Derbyshire
NT 109011
Summary
Painted plaster, Ganymede, possibly cast by Bartolomeo Mattevali on behalf of Matthew Brettingham (1724-1803), cast c. 1758. A full-length plaster cast of Ganymede, after an ancient Roman marble statue originally in the Villa Medici and moved to the Uffizi, Florence, in 1780. Ganymede as an eternal youth, nude, in contrapposto, leaning against a tree trunk supported by his proper left arm. In his proper right hand he holds a stylized cockerel, a gift from Zeus. According to Greek mythology, Zeus fell in love with the beautiful mortal boy Ganymede; disguised as an eagle, he abducted the youth and flew him to the immortal realms of Olympus where he served as Zeus' cup-bearer. In the antique statue in the Uffizi, an eagle (Zeus) sits on the tree trunk and the top of Ganymede's left hand rests on the eagle's left wing. Brettingham clearly chose not to include the eagle at the stage of moulding the antique statue in the Villa Medici.
Full description
Nathaniel Curzon (1726-1804) acquired this cast of Ganymede from Matthew Brettingham (1725-1803), an architect who primarily dealt in antiquities and casts for the British aristocracy. The cast is recorded as 'Ganimede' in a handwritten inventory of sculpture and statuary produced by Curzon himself in around 1760 (MS, Kedleston Archive). It is recorded again in a list inscribed on the verso of that inventory, under the subheading 'Saloon Statues'. Ganymede was initially installed in the Saloon (see 'Catalogue of the pictures, statues, &c. at Kedleston', 1758, Saloon, p. 9), but by c. 1788-89, when the Saloon was converted into a ballroom, it had been moved to the Marble Hall, where it stands today (see annotated Catalogue of 1769, Hall, p. 7, see annotated copy in the Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles). A receipted bill from Brettingham dated 23 January 1758 (MS, Kedleston Archive) shows that Curzon paid £10 for the cast of Ganymede, approximately £1000 in today's money. During his seven-year stint in Rome (1747-54) Brettingham not only dealt in casts and antiquities - furnishing the Earl of Leicester, for example, with casts and marble statues for Holkham - but also commissioned actual moulds to be taken from famous Roman statues. The idea was that casts could then be made to order when he returned to London. According to Brettingham's Rome Account Book, the ledger of statues dealt, casts made, bought and sold when he was in Italy, a gesso cast of the Ganymede was sent to England in April 1754 (this is presumably the cast at Holkham) and a mould was made of the statue in the Villa Medici a few months later, along with the Apollino [NT 109002] (Kenworthy-Browne 1983, pp. 82, 99, 100). The Kedleston cast is believed to have been produced by Bartolomeo Mattevali, an Italian craftsman Brettingham brought back to London especially for the task casting from the moulds. Alice Rylance-Watson March 2019
Provenance
Purchased by Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Baron Scarsdale (1726-1804),from Joseph Wilton (1722-1803); see receipted bill of 23 January 1758 for cast of 'Ganimede' at £10-0-0; identifiable in the 1758 'Catalogue of the pictures, statues, &c. at Kedleston' (Saloon, p. 9); identifiable in annotated copy of 1769 'Catalogue' in Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (Hall, p. 7, annotations date to c.1788-89 when Saloon statues were moved); identifiable in 1861 'Catalogue' (Hall, p. 7); purchased with part of the contents of Kedleston with the aid of the National Heritage Memorial Fund in 1987 when the house and park were given to the National Trust by Francis Curzon, 3rd Viscount Scarsdale (1924-2000).
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
workshop of Matthew Brettingham the Younger (1725 - 1803), dealer possibly Bartolomeo Mattevali, caster
References
Kenworthy-Browne 1983: John Kenworthy-Browne, 'Matthew Brettingham's Rome Account Book 1747-1754', The Volume of the Walpole Society, vol.49 (1983), pp.37-132, pp. 82, 99, 100 Kenworthy-Browne 1993: John Kenworthy-Browne, ‘Designing around the statues. Matthew Brettingham’s casts at Kedleston’, Apollo, April 1993, pp.248-252