17th Large Marble Head Medici Venus Grand Tour Florentine Workshop

Marble head depicting the Medici Venus, Florentine workshop, second half of the 17th century.

In the first half of the 16th century, a statue of Venus was discovered in Rome, fragmented into several pieces but in an exceptional state of preservation, near the Baths of Trajan on the Opium. Purchased by Ferdinando de’ Medici, the statue was kept for almost a century in the interior of the Villa Medici on the Pincian Hill, until 1677, when it was brought to Florence along with the Wrestlers and the Knife Grinder and, in 1680, placed in the Tribuna of the Uffizi.
Finally on public display, the sculpture was enveloped in a sacred respect, unanimously paid to it by antique dealers and visitors on the Grand Tour throughout the 18th century. Since the 17th century, the statue’s fame has prompted the creation of copies for European noble collections: full-length statues as well as busts and heads. Ours in particular is exquisitely refined, evident in the delicate shape of the earlobes, the meticulously crafted hair, and the perfectly proportioned nose and slightly parted lips, where the marks of hand-drilled tools are clearly visible. These and other details, such as its original, untouched patina, place it between the late 17th and early 18th centuries, among the first replicas. The head, 27 cm tall and slightly smaller than life-size, should match the original statue, whose precise measurements are unknown but which is 153 cm tall.

Excellent condition.

Measurements
H 27 cm
W 15 cm
D 23 cm
Total height 40 cm