A Fine 19th Century Alabaster Sculpture after 'The Wrestlers'

Italy, circa 1880

A fine late nineteenth century alabaster sculpture of two warriors wrestling, after the Roman marble sculpture The Wrestlers.

In 1583, a group of Classical sculptures were uncovered near Porta San Giovanni, in Rome. During the 1st Century B.C., the period of the group’s creation, the land was part of the Horti Lamiani, the garden of the consul Lucius Aelius Lamia. One of the sculptures in that group was The Wrestlers, of which this is an alabaster reproduction.

However, the uncovered sculpture was not in fact the original, and was itself a Roman marble reproduction of a lost Greek bronze. Although there is some speculation, the bronze original is widely attributed to Lysippus, in the 3rd Century B.C.

By 1594, The Wrestlers was bought by Cardinal Ferdinando de’Medici, and was exhibited at the Villa Medici. In 1677, the sculpture was moved to Florence, and by 1688 was exhibited in the Tribuna of the Uffizi Galleries, where it remains today.

Considering the men depicted, they are taught and muscular, locked in combat, and although one figures pins the other down, at the moment of the sculpture, it is unclear who will eventually be victorious.

Within Britain, the sculpture had much appeal, perhaps due to the interest in Classical sculpture at the Royal Academy. Sir Joshua Reynolds said of the sculpture that ‘the group of boxers is a remarkable instance; they are engaged in the most animated action with the greatest serenity of countenance’.

It is perhaps this contrast between combat and calmness that is most appealing about the sculpture. And it is perhaps this that leads to our impression of Classical sculpture as being so elegant.

Dimensions

This object is eligible for a Certificate of BADA Provenance