Pietro Bazzanti Crouching Venus. Second Half Of The 19th Century.

PIETRO BAZZANTI (Florence, 1825–1895)
CROUCHING VENUS (VENERE ACCUCCIATA)
FLORENCE, SECOND HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY

Carved alabaster, depicting Venus surprised at her bath, her body gracefully bent upon one knee, her head turned slightly to the right and her hair arranged in an elaborate chignon. She rests upon an octagonal base with chamfered corners.

Signed to the reverse, on the terrace: P. Bazzanti Florence.
H. 56 × W. 32 × D. 21 cm

A few reattached fingers.

This elegant figure exemplifies the technical virtuosity of the Bazzanti workshop, one of the most celebrated in 19th-century Florence, renowned for its interpretations of antique and Renaissance sculpture for an international clientele of collectors and Grand Tour travellers.

The composition derives from the celebrated Hellenistic model of the Crouching Venus, traditionally attributed by Pliny the Elder to the sculptor Doidalsas of Bithynia. An important Roman example, formerly housed at the Villa Medici, was transferred to the Uffizi Gallery in Florence at the end of the 18th century, where it became a major source of inspiration for Florentine sculptors.

Bazzanti makes sophisticated use of the natural qualities of alabaster, whose translucency lends the goddess’s flesh an almost diaphanous softness, subtly contrasted with the more finely incised treatment of the hair. The sculptor thus combines the sensuality of the nude with balanced proportions and graceful movement, in keeping with the refined taste of the Florentine Neoclassical tradition.