A Roman artifact from the Italian sculptor responsible for the Trevi Fountain was discovered in a reclamation yard for a mere 300 British pounds ($400).
The 27-inch-tall (68cm) model was fashioned by Pietro Bracci as a pitch for a giant bronze sculpture of Pope Clement XII, which was commissioned by the Roman Senate to commemorate the pope’s donation to the Capitoline Museums.
While the final full-sized bronze was tragically melted down for scrap metal 60 years later, Bracci’s presentation ‘maquette ’ made of marble—believed to have been completed in the 1730s—quietly survived.
Shipped back to a country estate in England, it fell out of favor and was moved outdoors to become a common garden ornament.
Seeing it sitting among hundreds of architectural cast-offs, a builder with a sharp eye for antiquities spotted its quality in the salvage yard in Wiltshire and took a chance that he may have found a treasure.
It was was put up for auction yesterday by Woolley & Wallis after it was estimated to fetch between $6,600 to $13,300 because of its uniqueness, and artist’s signature.
“It’s an exceptionally exciting discovery,” said the auction house’s furniture specialist Mark Yuan Richards.
“To have a rare eighteenth-century marble figure of Pope Clement XII by Pietro Bracci come to light, and now be offered for sale, is a remarkable opportunity.
“Bracci was one of the great sculptors of eighteenth-century Rome, and this extraordinary survivor offers a tangible connection to the world of the papal court and the artistic splendor of the period.”
(The sale price should be posted here by the auction house soon.)
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