Italian Marble Figure of Venus Birth by Andreini

An Italian white marble figure of the birth of Venus attributed to Ferdinando Andreini (1843-1922), circa 1900, the naked goddess rising from a scallop shell and stylised waves, together with a carved serpentine plinth entwined by a dolphin, overall height 224 cm. Provenance: Sotheby's Billingshurst, Garden Statuary & Architectural Items, 13 October 1997, lot 358, acquired from the above. Other Notes: Born of the foam of the sea, the Roman goddess Venus emerges from the waves elegantly poised upon a shell with her hair billowing behind her and a smaller shell nestled on top of her head. Her pure white form is carved from the finest carrara marble with her undulating curves a prime example of Italian romantic sculpture, the present lot forms part of a long tradition of representations by artists who have been enamoured by the goddess of love. The renewed interest in classical Roman mythology during the Renaissance saw a great variety of depictions of Venus, perhaps most notably is Sandro Botticelli's 'The birth of Venus' painted in the late 15th century and housed at the Uffizi gallery, Florence. Botticelli's depiction, like the current lot, shows Venus after her birth having arose from the sea, blown by the west wind, Zephyr, and standing gracefully on a shell. These Renaissance depictions became popular references for artists in Florence during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Ferdinando Andreini was born in Settignano, a few miles north-east of Florence, and studied under the sculptor Ulysse Cambi (1807-1895). Andreini's sculpture has become known for its skilful juxtaposition of matte and polished surfaces, which is particularly prominent in the present lot in the texture of the waves that rise embracing Venus' form. His masterful ability to balance the weight of the marble can be seen in this figure as she stands delicately in contrapposto, seemingly weightless, propelled forward by the power of the sea and the breath of the wind. During the last quarter of the 19th century Andreini executed a series of comparable sculptures of mythological and allegorical subjects romanticising the female figure, another example, his sculpture Diana, is housed in the Warrington Museum & Art Gallery, UK.