Dancing Faun, Souvenir Of The Grand Tour - Pietro Chiapparelli

Patinated bronze figure of the famous dancing fauna discovered in Pompeii in 1830.
Based on the original now in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Naples.
The bronze figure rests on an oval plinth on two levels. The first level is in Campan cherry red marble, the second, larger, in a deep matt black.
Signed "Po Chiapparelli Fe Roma".
Italy, second half of the 19th century

The original figure of the faun was unearthed in Pompeii in 1830 and gained instant fame.
His place of discovery bears his name: the Maison du Faune. This aristocratic residence was built in the 2nd century BC. AD to Pompeii where it is one of the most luxurious houses in the Roman Republic.
It housed many works of art such as the Alexander mosaic depicting the Battle of Issus in 333 BC. AD between Alexander the Great and Darius III of Persia.

Pietro Chiapparelli, active in Rome in the second half of the 19th century, is the author of numerous bronze figures after the great classics of ancient sculpture such as the Laocoon Group, the Arès Ludovisi and of course our Dancing Faun, perpetuating thus the tradition of the Grand Tour in the 19th century.