Antoine COYSEVOX
(French, 1640-1720 After)
The Goddess Diana & Hunting Hound
Fine, classical bronze statue mounted on a black marble base
Late 19th-Early 20th Century
Inscribed 'A. Coysevox' on base
Excluding base: H 43.5 x W 21.5 x D 13.5 cm (17 x 8½ x 5¼ in)
Including base: H 47 x W 21.5 x D 18.5 cm (18½ x 8½ x 7¼ in)
Priced at £3,750
See commentary below and Biography

Since many of our clients lead busy professional lives, we will be pleased
to bring work to your office or home for viewing (London & Home Counties),
by appointment, and with no cost or obligation to purchase.

The Artistic Legagy of the Mythological World

The world of myth has long played an integral part in both literature and art. The intriguing, exciting and often dangerous epic tales told by Ancient Greek and Roman writers, such as Homer (in the Odyssey and the Iliad), Virgil (in Eclogues, the Georgics and the Aeneid), and Ovid (in Metamorphoses) provided the literary springboard for Renaissance and Baroque artists - and just as the gods had the power to metamorphose themselves into humans and animals, so did such artists succeed in transforming the mythological world (with all its wonderful mêlée of extraordinary, and at times grotesque, inhabitants) into colourful, tangible visions.

With the Renaissance's revived interest in all things Classical, the resurgence of interest in the great mythological epics encouraged patrons and artists alike to portray the tales, as seen, for example, in Botticelli's work (Italian, 1445-1510, e.g. The Birth of Venus, c.1482-86, The Uffizi, Florence) as well as that of Agnolo Bronzino's (Italian, 1502-1572, e.g. Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time, 1545, The National Gallery, London). It is worth noting, however, that in such turbulent religious times there was a fine line between 'homage to' and 'worship of' the mythological world, as Botticelli discovered to his cost when he was accused of paganism based on the subject matter of some his paintings.

Titian (Italian, c.1485-1576), a master of both Venetian colour and Florentine disegno, also produced many mythological masterpieces including his series of large paintings known as the 'poesie' (taken largely from Ovid) which were commissioned by King Philip II of Spain for his private hunting lodge. The 'poesie' series began with Venus and Adonis (The Prado, Madrid, one of several versions) and Danaë, which were both sent to Philip II in 1553. Diana and Actaeon and Diana and Callisto were despatched in 1559, followed by Perseus and Andromeda (The Wallace Collection, London) and the Rape of Europa (Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston). The Death of Actaeon was begun in 1559 and worked on for many years but never completed or delivered. Following a recent and much publicised campaign in Britain, the government has succeeded in keeping Diana and Actaeon in the UK (National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh) and it has secured the possibility of acquiring the equally important Diana and Callisto (National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh) by 2012.

The Renaissance's revival in depicting the mythological world continued throughout the Baroque period and it is particularly interesting to note how some Baroque artists, such as Rubens (Dutch, 1577-1640) and Van Dyck (Dutch, 1599-1641), began to 'marry' mythological figures with portraiture (whether in Ruben's portrayal of his second wife, Hélène Fourment, in the guise of one of the Three Graces or one of Van Dyck's wealthy, noble patrons depicted as a god or goddess). It was a clever and indeed overtly arrogant artistic statement of the sitter's wealth, power, and elevated position within society and, depending upon the choice of the particular god or goddess, a reflection of their character.

The acclaimed late Baroque French sculptor, Charles Antoine Coysevox (1640-1720) was also a master of this specific art form. Coysevox produced much of the garden statuary for the newly-built Château de Versailles, mixed with the upper echelons of society and executed numerous sculptural portraits of the most celebrated people of his age, including royalty, military and religious figures as well as acclaimed artists and writers. Yet, in line with Louis XIV's tastes, he also created striking mythological sculptures, amongst them Mercury on Pegasus (1699-1702) and Fame on Pegasus (1699-1702).  He also sculpted Pan (now in the Musée du Louvre, Paris), Justice and Force and the River Garonne (at Versailles), and Amphitrite (1705) and Neptune (1707) which were moved to the Tuileries Gardens in Paris in 1719.

Described by the sculptor Jean-Bernard du Seigneur (French, 1808-1866) as "the Van Dyck of sculpture" (La Revue Universelle des Arts, 1855), Coysevox is often credited with initiating the movement in sculptural portraiture towards the depiction of an individual’s character. Both his formal commissions as well as his more personal sculptures reflect a quality of naturalism and animation and all were said to have been remarkable likenesses of their sitters.  Like Van Dyck, Coysevox occasionally married the genre of portraiture with myth, as seen with the portrait bust Duchess of Bourgogne as Diana (1710).

Full sculptural depiction of the same goddess is seen in The Goddess Diana and the Hunting Hound illustrated above. Similarly to Bernini (Italian, 1598-1689, as seen in The Rape of Proserpina, Galleria Borghese, Rome), Coysevox successfully removes 'the mythological robe' and enlivens the scene with human realism - the subject is strongly involved with a loyal hunting hound who is attempting to gain his mistress's attention and Diana's contrapposto bodily twist, the folds in her drapery, the hound's agility, and the owner's loving yet authoritative gesture, all combine to demonstrate Coysevox's sculptural mastery in this impressive mythological bronze.

Best wishes

CHRIS NOEL-JOHNSON
ALBANY FINE ART

T: +44 (0) 1367 870961
M: +44 (0) 7799 691 692
E: chrisnj@albanyfineart.co.uk