Sleeping Ariadne After Van Clève, 19th Century

"Sleeping Ariadne" or "Cleopatra at rest" after Corneille Van Clève
Bronze with brown patina
19th century
L. 52 x W. 20 cm; H. 35 cm
Griotte red marble base


Corneille Van Clève's marble, commissioned by Louis XIV to adorn the Gardens of Versailles, is an adaptation of ancient marble discovered in the early 16th century.
In 1512, the antique was purchased by Pope Julius II and placed in the Courtyard of Statues at the Belvedere to adorn a fountain. At the end of the 18th century, the marble was ceded to the French by the Treaty of Tolentino and exhibited for a time at the Louvre. The work finally returned to Rome after the fall of Napoleon and found its permanent home in the Pio-Clementino Museum in the Vatican.

Sleeping Ariadne has inspired many versions. Primaticcio made a bronze adaptation for Francis I in 1540. Louis XIV subsequently commissioned marble replicas from Jean-Baptiste Goy and Corneille Van Clève to adorn the gardens of Versailles. In the second half of the 18th century, sculptors such as Zoffoli, Righetti, and Pierre Julien delivered their own versions. In the 19th and 20th centuries, many founders, such as Barbedienne, produced and distributed the Sleeping Ariadne in bronze. Finally, in the contemporary era, Jeff Koons created his own version in 2013.

In our bronze version after Corneille Van Clève, Ariadne is depicted in a reclining pose, draped in Greek style in flowing garments that emphasize the curves of her body. Her arm is thrown back above her head in a lascivious position, revealing a breast. She wears a snake bracelet on her left arm, giving it a symbolic dimension. It may evoke her connection with deities and natural forces, as well as her role in Greek myths.