The Wrestlers, Bronze After The Antique, Collas Reduction Stamp, 19th Century

The Wrestlers, bronze with nuanced brown patina, bears the réduction mécanique Collas stamp.

This bronze depicts two nude men engaged in pankration, a martial art combining wrestling and boxing, introduced to the Greek Olympic Games in 648 BCE. The upper fighter holds his opponent firmly in a special grip, attempting to execute a guillotine move, which could lead to submission and victory.
The work displays great dynamism and reveals a precise study of human anatomy, clearly illustrated by the detailed rendering of the muscles.

This bronze is a reduced version after a Roman marble group exhibited at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, rediscovered in Rome in 1583. That Roman sculpture was itself a copy of a now-lost Greek original. Admired for its striking and realistic depiction of combat, the statue was reproduced many times, in various materials, by different artists. One of its most famous copies is undoubtedly that by Philippe Magnier (1647–1715), commissioned by the royal administration for the gardens of Versailles; it is now housed in the Louvre Museum.

Bearing the "réduction mécanique Collas" stamp on the base, this bronze was most likely cast by the Barbedienne Foundry. The bronze is presented on a Saint-Remy marble base.

XIXth century