Apollo By Auguste Clésinger – Patinated Bronze – Rome – 1857

Superb bronze representing Apollo by the famous French sculptor and painter Jean-Baptiste Auguste Clésinger, known as Auguste Clésinger (1814-1884). He is the son of Georges-Philippe Clésinger, also a sculptor. Auguste Clesinger is probably one of the greatest French sculptors of the 19th century. He is notably the author of "the woman bitten by the snake" exhibited at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. This bronze depicts Apollo dressed in a pleated toga and his tortoise shell lyre. He is seated on a stele.
Historically, it is Hermès who creates the lyre (Apollodore, Library):
Hermès finds a tortoise grazing in front of the lair. He emptied it, stretched strings made from the guts of sacrificed cows over the carapace and, having thus created the lyre, he also invented the plectrum.
The details of the pleating, of the body, of the hair down to the feet, of the lyre or even the stele attest to the exceptional quality of this bronze. This bronze is in perfect condition and has a magnificent patina that is unique to it. It is signed “J.CLESINGER. Rome 1857” and also bears the foundry stamp “F.BARBEDIENNE. FOUNDER.”

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