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Lot Essay
Lucius Verus (130-169), along with his adopted brother Marcus Aurelius (121-180), had the distinctions to be the first two co-emperors of the Roman Empire. Lucius Verus was already the adoptive grandson of the Emperor Hadrian when he was adopted by the Emperor Antoninus Pius. And, after Antoninus Pius’ death in 161, both Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Veras, as his adoptive sons, were confirmed by the senate to rule the Roman Empire. After many campaigns abroad, Lucius Verus eventually returned to Rome to a life of both pleasure and continued duty until his death in 169. Marcus Aurelius, in addition to his many military victories, was also known as the last emperor of the period of Pax Romana.
The present busts, depict both Lucius Verus and Marcus Aurelius as young men, either just before they became emperors, or perhaps just after. In particular, Lucius Verus, looks younger than he might have at the age of thirty one, when he became emperor, as his placid and un-lined face suggests that the weight of empire has not yet settled on this youth. As Lamouche (Renaissance Masterpieces of the Michael Hall Collection, exh. cat., Paris, 2013) notes, ‘the juvenile face is carefully finished and polished to show the softness of the skin’. The beard and hair, with deep and wildly curling asymmetry, are visually gorgeous and act as striking counterpoints. The bust of Marcus Aurelius depicts a more mature man, perhaps one who already feels the responsibilities and burdens of an empire, as his slightly furrowed brow suggests.
LUDOVICO LOMBARDO: A BRIDGE BETWEEN ANTIQUITY AND THE RENAISSANCE
The magnificent bust of the young Lucius Verus is closely related to several other nearly identical bronze heads from the studio of Ludovico Lombardo who was working for some the most celebrated collectors of ancient and contemporary sculpture in Renaissance Florence and Rome. Ludovico Lombardo, the son of the Venetian sculptor Antonio Lombardo, was from a family of sculptors who worked both in bronze and marble (Boström, op. cit., p. 162). Born in Ferrara, Ludovico is first recorded in 1546 as a caster in bronze and continued to work, often with his brothers, dividing his time between Rome and Recanti until his death (Ibid.). The fascination with, and re-appraisal of, antique sculpture was widespread in Italy at this moment. And, as Boström writes, Italian nobleman assembling sculpture collections and decorating their palazzi, considered the classicizing copies of antique originals to be acceptable substitutes. Boström identifies three bronze busts of Hadrian, Brutus and Scipio commissioned by Lorenzo Ridolfi, a Florentine, from a ‘maestro Ludovico’ (Ibid., pp. 159-160). As Boström further elaborates, not only was Ludovico supplying original works of art, but he was also restoring antique sculpture and acting as a sculpture dealer or agent.
Boström has greatly expanded not just our understanding of, but indeed Ludovico’s actual oeuvre and identifies and discusses many of the most important of Ludovico’s bronze busts. Among them are three Busts of Hadrian (National Gallery of Art, Washington, Museo Archeologico, Venice and Bayerisches Museum, Munich), three Busts of Brutus (Liechtenstein Collections, Vaduz, the Louvre and one in a private [formerly Pourtalès], collection) and additional heads without torsos now in the Bargello and busts in the Jacquemart-André Museum, Paris, and the National Museum, Stockholm. (Ibid., pp. 155-179).
Most of Ludovico’s busts are heads and torsos cast entirely in bronze. However, a bust of Hadrian, also attributed to Ludovico and now in the Prado Museum, is composed of a bronze head on a rather simply-carved marble torso (Prado E000354). It is a combination of bronze and marble similar to the present Lucius Verus. And in the Museo Nazionale Romano there is an antique basalt head of Scipio set into a gilded bronze torso attributed to Ludovico, known as the Rospigliosi Scipio (Ibid., pp. 167-168).
Of all the bronze busts attributed to Ludovico, two are of particular relevance to the present Lucius Verus. The first is a bronze bust in the collections of the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum and the second is a bronze and marble bust from the collection of Michael Hall and sold by Christie’s, New York, 20 April 2018, lot 26 ($324,500, including premium). The Munich and Michael Hall versions appear to be identical to the present Lucius Verus, except that the Munich version is set onto bronze shoulders with a paludamentum and the Michael Hall version has the additions of the silver-inlaid eyes and also has a full marble torso like the Rothschild version.
Identified as both Young Hadrian and Lucius Verus, the Munich bust has been traditionally attributed to Tullio Lombardo (Weihrauch, op. cit.). However, more recent scholarship by Fittschen (op. cit.), Avaretto (op. cit.) and Luchs (op. cit.) – all discussed and summarized by Avery (op. cit., pp. 87-89) – indicate an attribution to Ludovico. Avery also mentions that there are other versions of this head, including one, cited by Lamouche, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2004.83.4). And, finally, as noted by Avery, in 1993 Favaretto published a fragmentary gesso head now in the Museo Liviano, Padua, that appears to have been cast from the original clay model used to make this model of Lucius Verus – perhaps the very beginning of this story in the 16th century (Ibid. and Favaretto, op. cit.).
The present busts, depict both Lucius Verus and Marcus Aurelius as young men, either just before they became emperors, or perhaps just after. In particular, Lucius Verus, looks younger than he might have at the age of thirty one, when he became emperor, as his placid and un-lined face suggests that the weight of empire has not yet settled on this youth. As Lamouche (Renaissance Masterpieces of the Michael Hall Collection, exh. cat., Paris, 2013) notes, ‘the juvenile face is carefully finished and polished to show the softness of the skin’. The beard and hair, with deep and wildly curling asymmetry, are visually gorgeous and act as striking counterpoints. The bust of Marcus Aurelius depicts a more mature man, perhaps one who already feels the responsibilities and burdens of an empire, as his slightly furrowed brow suggests.
LUDOVICO LOMBARDO: A BRIDGE BETWEEN ANTIQUITY AND THE RENAISSANCE
The magnificent bust of the young Lucius Verus is closely related to several other nearly identical bronze heads from the studio of Ludovico Lombardo who was working for some the most celebrated collectors of ancient and contemporary sculpture in Renaissance Florence and Rome. Ludovico Lombardo, the son of the Venetian sculptor Antonio Lombardo, was from a family of sculptors who worked both in bronze and marble (Boström, op. cit., p. 162). Born in Ferrara, Ludovico is first recorded in 1546 as a caster in bronze and continued to work, often with his brothers, dividing his time between Rome and Recanti until his death (Ibid.). The fascination with, and re-appraisal of, antique sculpture was widespread in Italy at this moment. And, as Boström writes, Italian nobleman assembling sculpture collections and decorating their palazzi, considered the classicizing copies of antique originals to be acceptable substitutes. Boström identifies three bronze busts of Hadrian, Brutus and Scipio commissioned by Lorenzo Ridolfi, a Florentine, from a ‘maestro Ludovico’ (Ibid., pp. 159-160). As Boström further elaborates, not only was Ludovico supplying original works of art, but he was also restoring antique sculpture and acting as a sculpture dealer or agent.
Boström has greatly expanded not just our understanding of, but indeed Ludovico’s actual oeuvre and identifies and discusses many of the most important of Ludovico’s bronze busts. Among them are three Busts of Hadrian (National Gallery of Art, Washington, Museo Archeologico, Venice and Bayerisches Museum, Munich), three Busts of Brutus (Liechtenstein Collections, Vaduz, the Louvre and one in a private [formerly Pourtalès], collection) and additional heads without torsos now in the Bargello and busts in the Jacquemart-André Museum, Paris, and the National Museum, Stockholm. (Ibid., pp. 155-179).
Most of Ludovico’s busts are heads and torsos cast entirely in bronze. However, a bust of Hadrian, also attributed to Ludovico and now in the Prado Museum, is composed of a bronze head on a rather simply-carved marble torso (Prado E000354). It is a combination of bronze and marble similar to the present Lucius Verus. And in the Museo Nazionale Romano there is an antique basalt head of Scipio set into a gilded bronze torso attributed to Ludovico, known as the Rospigliosi Scipio (Ibid., pp. 167-168).
Of all the bronze busts attributed to Ludovico, two are of particular relevance to the present Lucius Verus. The first is a bronze bust in the collections of the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum and the second is a bronze and marble bust from the collection of Michael Hall and sold by Christie’s, New York, 20 April 2018, lot 26 ($324,500, including premium). The Munich and Michael Hall versions appear to be identical to the present Lucius Verus, except that the Munich version is set onto bronze shoulders with a paludamentum and the Michael Hall version has the additions of the silver-inlaid eyes and also has a full marble torso like the Rothschild version.
Identified as both Young Hadrian and Lucius Verus, the Munich bust has been traditionally attributed to Tullio Lombardo (Weihrauch, op. cit.). However, more recent scholarship by Fittschen (op. cit.), Avaretto (op. cit.) and Luchs (op. cit.) – all discussed and summarized by Avery (op. cit., pp. 87-89) – indicate an attribution to Ludovico. Avery also mentions that there are other versions of this head, including one, cited by Lamouche, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2004.83.4). And, finally, as noted by Avery, in 1993 Favaretto published a fragmentary gesso head now in the Museo Liviano, Padua, that appears to have been cast from the original clay model used to make this model of Lucius Verus – perhaps the very beginning of this story in the 16th century (Ibid. and Favaretto, op. cit.).