Patinated bronze figure of Diana the Huntress by Barbedienne

This fine patinated bronze sculpture is by Barbedienne, one of the leading fondeurs of the 19^th Century. The sculpture takes as its original the Diana of Versailles, a Roman era marble from the 1^st or 2^nd Century CE after a now lost Greek bronze original from c. 325 BCE. The Diana of Versailles, now held within the Louvre, portrays Diana at the hunt, hurrying forward as if in pursuit of prey. Diana glances to her right, her right arm raised to draw an arrow from the quiver on her back. Standing by Diana’s left side is a small deer, whose antlers she grasps with her left hand. Diana is dressed in a chiton—a form of dress common to Ancient Greece—and wears light sandals on her feet.

The base is signed ‘F. Barbedienne. Fondeur’ and bears the reduction stamp for Collas.