FRENCH school of the late 18th century after Gaspard... Lot 11

FRENCH school of the late 18th century after Gaspard Marsy (1624-1681) and Anselme Flamen (1647-1717) The Abduction of Orithye by Boreas Bronze with brown patina. H. 54 cm Provenance : Collection of Monsieur D. Related works : Gaspard Marsy, Anselme Flamen, L'Enlèvement d'Orithye par Borée, 1677-1687, marble, H. 260 x W. 100 x D. 100 cm, Paris, musée du Louvre, inv. MR 1844; Anselme Flamen d'après Gaspard Marsy, L'enlèvement d'Orithye par Borée, bronze, H. 105,5 x W. 60 x D. 47 cm, Paris, Musée du Louvre, on deposit at Château de Versailles, inv. MR 3803; Anselme Flamen after Gaspard Marsy and Anselme Flamen, The Abduction of Orithye by Boreas, circa 1700-1725, bronze, H. 54.6 cm, London, Wallace Collection, inv. S.169. Bibliography : Geneviève Bresc-Bautier, Guilhem Scherf, Bronzes français, de la Renaissance au Siècle des Lumières, cat. exp. Paris, Musée du Louvre, October 22 2008-January 19 2009, New York, Metropolitan Museum of art, February 23-May 24 2009, Los Angeles, J. Paul Getty Museum, June 20-September 27 2009, Paris, musée du Louvre édition Somogy, 2008, model listed under no. 69, p. 266-269. In 1674, Charles Lebrun commissioned a group of sculptures on the theme of the four elements, inspired by Ovid's Metamorphoses, to adorn the parterre d'eau at Versailles. Cambrésian sculptor Gaspard Marsy, an Academician since 1657, was commissioned to create the allegorical Air group. The sculptor drew inspiration for his composition from Song VI (687-721), in which Boreas, god of the north wind, abducts Orithye, daughter of the king of Athens, with the help of Zephyr's breath, god of the west wind. Lebrun's project to decorate the parterre d'eau was abandoned, and when Marsy died in 1681, the group remained unfinished. His pupil Anselme Flamen completed his master's work, and the marble statue was placed on a circular pedestal in the parterre of the Orangerie. Inspired by Italian Mannerism, the pyramidal composition is reminiscent of Jean de Bologne. The work met with critical acclaim and great success, as evidenced by the numerous bronze reductions that can be found in public collections today. The group is often with François Girardon's Allegory of Fire. These bronzes are executed in two sizes (approx. 100 cm for the large version and between 55 and 60 cm for the small version) and sometimes feature variations in the shape of the terrace and the presence or absence of wings for Zephyr.