'Night', Italian marble bust of a woman with the crescent Moon

This bust, sculpted from beautiful white marble, depicts a young woman. Her face, calm in quiet somnolence, is the image of repose, her head tilted slightly to one side. Her soft features are delicately rendered, as are the gentle curls of her hair. Strikingly, a crescent Moon, complete with facial features, rests by her side, its curve embracing her body. Both the woman and the Moon rest beneath wonderfully carved clothes, the soft folds of which reveal the forms below. A single star sits on her left side.

The sculpture personifies night, the woman symbolising sleep. She may be a modern-day Selene, the Greek goddess of the Moon.

The bust is raised on a marble socle and is signed ‘Prof Nistri’, which may indicate the maker or perhaps a former owner.