Fine Furniture - 20th January 2026
Lot 99
AN ITALIAN BRONZE MODEL OF THE FARNESE BULL
Estimate £800 - £1,200 | Hammer £1016
Inc. Buyers Premium
Description
AN ITALIAN BRONZE MODEL OF THE FARNESE BULL
AFTER THE ANTIQUE
depicting Letus and Amphion attempting to tie Dirce to an enraged bull, with Endymion and Antiope, on a naturalistic base with a figure and fighting animals
39cm high, 31.5 x 30cm
Catalogue Note
The present bronze derives from the famous marble statue discovered in the Baths of Caracalla 1545.
Literature
See F. Haskell and N. Penny, Taste and the Antique: The Lure of Classical Sculpture 1500-1900, pp. 166-167, no.15.