Julius Caesar In Bronze - Italy, End Of The 17th Century

This bronze represents a naked man, resting on his right leg, holding a command staff in his hand. Under his emerging baldness and the individualized features of his face, the characteristic portrait of Julius Caesar emerges. The latter is represented here according to ancient tradition in heroic nudity, translating the ancient aristocratic ideal according to which "everything that is beautiful is necessarily good", thus expressing the exceptional character of our character. This heroic nudity was applied to Roman generals and emperors very early on (as evidenced by the nude bronze Septimius Severus from the Archaeological Museum of Nicosia). It was then taken up by the bronze workers of the Renaissance and the modern period who drew their inspiration from Ancient art and copied the sculpted masterpieces of this period. If our bronze is part of this heritage, it nonetheless remains a completely original creation, multiplying references without ever copying a single old model. From an iconographic point of view, "the heroic Roman Emperor, holding a baton of command in one hand and presenting the globe in the other" adorning the gardens of the Château de Versailles can be compared to our bronze, probably made in Italy at the end of the 17th century or the beginning of the 18th century.