A Centaur thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Sculpture, Room 111, The Gilbert Bayes Gallery

A Centaur

Statuette
signed and dated 1784 (made)
Artist/Maker
Righetti, Francesco (maker)
Place of origin
Rome (made)

Righetti catered mainly for foreigners on the Grand Tour. He had a large workshop and produced faithful replicas, in various sizes, of well known statues. This centaur, like many of his statuettes, is based on a classical model. In later life Righetti worked closely with the celebrated neo-classical sculptor Antonio Canova in casting large-scale bronzes.


Object details

Categories
Access_to_Images 2003
Sculpture
Object type
Statuette
TitleA Centaur (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Bronze, with a marble base
Bronze
Marble
Porphyry
Ormolu
Carving
Casting
Brief description
Bronze of a centaur, Francesco Righetti (Italian), Roma, 1784
Physical description
Figure in bronze of a centaur, on a plinth of marble and porphyry, mounted with ormolu.
Dimensions
  • Figure height: 39.5cm
  • Plinth length: 27cm
  • Weight: 15.82kg
Marks and inscriptions
'F. Righetti f. Romae, 1784' (Signature; Latin; Righetti, Francesco; 1784)
Translation
Made by F. Righetti in Rome, 1784.
Credit line
Bequeathed by John Jones
Subject depicted
Centaur
Summary
Righetti catered mainly for foreigners on the Grand Tour. He had a large workshop and produced faithful replicas, in various sizes, of well known statues. This centaur, like many of his statuettes, is based on a classical model. In later life Righetti worked closely with the celebrated neo-classical sculptor Antonio Canova in casting large-scale bronzes.
Bibliographic references
  • List of Objects in the Art Division, South Kensington Museum acquired during the Year 1882. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1883. pp. 90
  • Catalogue of the Jones Bequest. 1924. No. II
  • Honour, Hugh. 'After the Antique: Some Italian Bronzes of the Eighteenth Century.' Apollo. March 1963. pp. 194-200.
  • Haskell, Francis and Penny, Nicholas. Taste and the Antique. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1981. pp.178-9, 343
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
979-1882

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Record createdJanuary 5, 2004
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O88461/a-centaur-statuette-righetti-francesco/
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