Bust of Venus

Tito Angelini (1806-1878)
19th century, White marble

This elegant sculpture, the face and bust of a beautiful Venus, reproduces Antonio Canova's Venus Italica with very few variations. The great sculptor created it to replace the Medici Venus, which was taken to France by Napoleon as spoils of war. Neapolitan sculptor Tito Angelini drew inspiration from that superb prototype, one of the most admired statues of the neoclassical era, for this highly detailed work. With its suppleness of form, it can be understood as both a tribute to the master of the artist’s youth, who enjoyed myth-like status in his day (after a brief period of study in his native city, Angelini moved to Rome in 1823 and studied Canova's models with Bertel Thorwaldsen), and excellent proof of his own bravura. Back in Naples, Angelini became a professor of sculpture and director of the School of Drawing, working for the nobility of the Bourbon court. This bust varies very little from the academic model in the facial expression of this fascinating deity and is signed by the sculptor on the verso.