Alexander The Great On His Horse Bucephalus

Bronze with black patina. Giuseppe Bucciano Foundry, Naples, 19th century.
This beautiful and rare sculpted representation of Alexander III of Macedon, legendary as Alexander the Great, is directly inspired by the ancient equestrian statuette from the 1st century AD discovered in the excavations of Herculaneum and preserved in the Archaeological Museum of Naples. This statuette was a reduction of the group commissioned four centuries earlier from Lysippos to celebrate the victory over the Persians at the Battle of the Granicus in 334 BC, a battle that would open the doors of Asia to Alexander (the oar under the horse evoking the Granicus River located in present-day Turkey). On the scale of the ancient model, our sculpture with its fine chiseling is a reflection of the talent of the artisans of the Bucciano Foundry. Throughout the 19th century, founders and their procession of sculptors settled in Campania to meet the demand for souvenirs from young people traveling to Italy to discover the wonders of Antiquity (the Grand Tour). Thus, among the workshops that shone during this period, the foundry of Giuseppe Bucciano excelled in the precision of its reproductions with great respect for ancient works.

In order to sublimate our powerful equestrian statue, it is presented on a blackened wooden pedestal.
Height: bronze alone: 40 cm - with the base 52 cm.