Torso restored as Dionysos
Roman
Category
Art / Sculpture
Date
1832 - 1835
Materials
Italian marble
Measurements
1135 x 1513 x 790 mm
Order this imageCollection
Petworth House and Park, West Sussex
NT 486320
Summary
Marble sculpture, Antique Torso restored as Dionysos, Roman copy of the Polykleitan School, restored by John Edward Carew (Wexford 1785 – London 1868) and James Welch. Roman copy of Polykleitan school of a standing nude male figure the antique portion of which has been restored as Dionysos. The antique torso 'from Rome and taken out of the Tiber' needed legs, arms, etc., according to the 3rd Earl of Egremont who commissioned the Irish sculptor Carew to rectify the omissions. This he did with the assistance of the marble mason James Welch between 1832-1835 at a cost of £525. Carew's new head retains evidence of patination that he employed to marry up his additions to the Antique torso.
Provenance
Purchased by Third Earl of Egremont. By descent, until the death in 1952 of the 3rd Lord Leconfield, who had given Petworth to the National Trust in 1947, and whose nephew and heir, John Wyndham, 6th Lord Leconfield and 1st Lord Egremont (1920-72), arranged for the acceptance of the major portion of the collections at Petworth in lieu of death duties (the first ever such arrangement) in 1956 by H.M. Treasury
Marks and inscriptions
14 (painted on front of base)
Makers and roles
Roman, sculptor after Polykleitan School , sculptor John Edward Carew (c.1785 - 1868), restorer James Welch (fl.1832 - 1835), restorer