Cupids as Caryatids; Putti supporting an architrave
- Object:
- Place of origin:
England, Great Britain (made)
- Date:
- Artist/Maker:
Rysbrack (perhaps, sculptor)
- Materials and Techniques:
Terracotta in high relief
- Museum number:
- Gallery location:
Sculpture, room 22, case 1
- Download image
This terracotta group in high relief is perhaps made by John Michael Rysbrack in ca. 1730 in England.
This terracotta relief - together with its pendant Mus. no. 7718-1863 - were made as sketch models for a larger composition in marble, probably used on the entablature of a doorway or chimneypiece; they may also have formed part of the pediment of a monument.
Rysbrack (1694-1770) was born in Antwerp, and trained in the Netherlands, but spent his working life in Britain. He was one of the most important sculptors active in this country in the first half of the 18th century, and specialised in portrait busts and funerary monuments. Although he never visited Italy, many of his works are clearly indebted to classical archetypes. His terracotta models are particularly fine, and are often virtually finished pieces in their own right.
Physical description
Terracotta relief made as a sketch for a larger composition in marble, either a doorway or a grand chimney-piece. Two almost naked putti support an architrave, each with one arm raised. There is a pilaster to the left of the putti.
Place of Origin
England, Great Britain (made)
Date
ca. 1730 (made)
Artist/maker
Rysbrack (perhaps, sculptor)
Materials and Techniques
Terracotta in high relief
Dimensions
Height: 42 cm
Historical context note
These terracotta reliefs were made as sketch models for a larger composition in marble, probably used on the entablature of a doorway or chimneypiece; they may also have formed part of the pediment of a monument.
Descriptive line
Relief, terracotta, of two putti supporting an architrave, perhaps by John Michael Rysbrack, England, ca. 1730
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Inventory of Art Objects Acquired in the Year 1863 In: Inventory of the Objects in the Art Division of the Museum at South Kensington, Arranged According to the Dates of their Acquisition. Vol I. London: Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., 1868, p. 35
Maclagan, Eric and Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture. Text. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1932, p. 156
Bilbey, Diane and Trusted, Marjorie. British Sculpture 1470-2000. A Concise Catalogue of the Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 2002, p. 136, cat.no 187
Pope-Hennessy, John. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Volume II: Text. Sixteenth to Twentieth Century. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1964, p. 699
Materials
Terracotta
Techniques
High relief
Subjects depicted
Putti
Categories
Sculpture
Collection code
SCP
