 |
| Antinoo. Museo de El Prado. |
“Los dioses no estaban ya, y Cristo no estaba todavía, y de Cicerón a Marco Aurelio hubo un momento único en que el hombre estuvo solo”. Esta frase de Flaubert que Marguerite Yourcenar leyó en 1927 fue uno de los desencadenantes de las “Memorias de Adriano“. “Gran parte de mi vida – dijo la novelista – transcurriría tratando de definir, y luego de pintar, a ese hombre solo y, por lo demás, unido a todo”.
Antinoo del Museo del Prado
Madrid, Museo del Prado
Detail of the bust of Antinous, ascertained in Rome in 1540. It formed part of different collections until 1724 when it was bought by Philip V of Spain and his consort Queen Elisabeth of Parma, a member of the Farnese family.
The bust was placed in the Royal palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso, in the province of Segovia until 1828 when King Ferdinand VII had it moved to Madrid’s Royal Museum of Paintings and Sculptures, now Museo Nacional del Prado.
The bust once belonged to Queen Christina of Sweden. Then it was acquired by Livio Odeschalchi. After Livio's death, his heir, Baldassare (1683-1746), the son of Lucrezia Odescalchi and Alessandro Erba, decided to put the collection up for sale.
In 1723, king Philip V of Spain and his Italian wife Isabella of Parma (the last member of the Farnese family), started negotiations in order to purchase the collection, and what was more difficult, to obtain the Papal permit to take it out of the Pontifical States. Cardinal Troiano Acquaviva d’Aragona (1735-1747), ambassador of Spain, managed to obtain in 1724 this permit from Pope Benedict XIII Orsini, who signed the export authorization with the words: “Fiat ut Petitur”, (let it be done as it has been asked for).
The cost of the Odescalchi-Vasa collection: 50,000 scudi, was defrayed by king Philip and his consort equally, and the collection was shared up between the Royal couple. The 172 boxes containing the sculptures, pedestals and columns were shipped from Civitavecchia and Genoa to Alicante, arriving in Spain in 1725 and taken to the Royal palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso in Segovia. In the palace they were restored by the Florentine sculptor Gaspare Petri (from 1725 to 1731), and finally in 1746 they were placed in 12 rooms of the ground floor, the so-called Lower Gallery of Sculptures, “Galería Baja de Esculturas”.
On the 18th November 1761, Anton Raphael Mengs, who was working in Madrid, received a letter from his friend, the German prophet and founding hero of modern archaeology, Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1717-1768). This letter, written in Italian, is important because it reveals what Winckelmann knew about this bust of Antinous:
-”The cardinal (Albani) is well acquainted with the bust of Antinous and he praises it ceaselessly. It is entirely antique and perfectly preserved, equal in beauty if not more beautiful -such are his words- to the one that appears in the relief of his villa”-.
Detail of the bust of Antinous, ascertained in Rome in 1540. It formed part of different collections until 1724 when it was bought by Philip V of Spain and his consort Queen Elisabeth of Parma, a member of the Farnese family.
The bust was placed in the Royal palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso, in the province of Segovia until 1828 when King Ferdinand VII had it moved to Madrid’s Royal Museum of Paintings and Sculptures, now Museo Nacional del Prado.
The bust once belonged to Queen Christina of Sweden. Then it was acquired by Livio Odeschalchi. After Livio's death, his heir, Baldassare (1683-1746), the son of Lucrezia Odescalchi and Alessandro Erba, decided to put the collection up for sale.
In 1723, king Philip V of Spain and his Italian wife Isabella of Parma (the last member of the Farnese family), started negotiations in order to purchase the collection, and what was more difficult, to obtain the Papal permit to take it out of the Pontifical States. Cardinal Troiano Acquaviva d’Aragona (1735-1747), ambassador of Spain, managed to obtain in 1724 this permit from Pope Benedict XIII Orsini, who signed the export authorization with the words: “Fiat ut Petitur”, (let it be done as it has been asked for).
The cost of the Odescalchi-Vasa collection: 50,000 scudi, was defrayed by king Philip and his consort equally, and the collection was shared up between the Royal couple. The 172 boxes containing the sculptures, pedestals and columns were shipped from Civitavecchia and Genoa to Alicante, arriving in Spain in 1725 and taken to the Royal palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso in Segovia. In the palace they were restored by the Florentine sculptor Gaspare Petri (from 1725 to 1731), and finally in 1746 they were placed in 12 rooms of the ground floor, the so-called Lower Gallery of Sculptures, “Galería Baja de Esculturas”.
On the 18th November 1761, Anton Raphael Mengs, who was working in Madrid, received a letter from his friend, the German prophet and founding hero of modern archaeology, Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1717-1768). This letter, written in Italian, is important because it reveals what Winckelmann knew about this bust of Antinous:
-”The cardinal (Albani) is well acquainted with the bust of Antinous and he praises it ceaselessly. It is entirely antique and perfectly preserved, equal in beauty if not more beautiful -such are his words- to the one that appears in the relief of his villa”-.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario