Vestal Virgin
Statuette
c.1790 - c.1810 (made)
c.1790 - c.1810 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This statuette had been attributed to Joseph-Charles Marin (1759-1834) and was thought to have been made in France c.1790-1810. However recently it has been suggested that it is unlikely to be French, and could have been produced by an artist in the circle of the Stuttgart sculptor (Johann) Valentin Sonnenschein (1749-1828), who fled to Zurich in 1775, where he worked at the porcelain factory there. In 1779 he went to Bern, where he spent the rest of his life. The V&A has two other teerracottas by him, inv. nos. A.19-1955 and A.6-1962. This statuette was perhaps a sketch model for the figure on a tomb, similar to the Virtue carrying an urn on the monument to Archduchess Maria Christina in the Augustinerkirche in Vienna by Antonio Canova.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Vestal Virgin (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Modelled terracotta |
| Brief description | Statuette, terracotta, a vestal virgin, formerly attributed to Joseph-Charles Marin, French, c.1790-1810. Now ascribed to the circle of Valentin Sonnenschein. German/Swiss; c. 1790-1810. Perhaps a model for a figure on a tomb. |
| Physical description | Over a simple robe the priestess wears a fringed veil which covers her head and falls down to the ground behind her. She bows her head over an amphora which she clasps with both hands. She walks forward, stepping forward on her left leg. The statuette sits on an integral circular base. |
| Dimensions |
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| Object history | Bought from Sotheby's for £160 (René Fribourg Collection VII, Pl. 2, 18 October 1963, Lot 717). |
| Historical context | This was perhaps a sketch model for the figure on a tomb, similar to the Virtue carrying an urn on the monument to Archduchess Maria Christina in the Augustinerkirche in Vienna by Canova. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | This statuette had been attributed to Joseph-Charles Marin (1759-1834) and was thought to have been made in France c.1790-1810. However recently it has been suggested that it is unlikely to be French, and could have been produced by an artist in the circle of the Stuttgart sculptor (Johann) Valentin Sonnenschein (1749-1828), who fled to Zurich in 1775, where he worked at the porcelain factory there. In 1779 he went to Bern, where he spent the rest of his life. The V&A has two other teerracottas by him, inv. nos. A.19-1955 and A.6-1962. This statuette was perhaps a sketch model for the figure on a tomb, similar to the Virtue carrying an urn on the monument to Archduchess Maria Christina in the Augustinerkirche in Vienna by Antonio Canova. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | A.18-1963 |
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| Record created | June 24, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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