Flayed in bronze with a black patina. Standing... - Lot 300 - Pierre Bergé & Associés

Lot 300
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Estimation :
7000 - 10000 EUR
Flayed in bronze with a black patina. Standing... - Lot 300 - Pierre Bergé & Associés
Flayed in bronze with a black patina. Standing in a slight contrapposto, the man turns his head to the right, the right arm along the body with thumb and index finger joined, the left arm slightly apart. Second half of the 18th century Height: 32 cm Marble base (missing fingers of the hands and the toe of the right foot) The flayed man's attitude seems to be inspired here by an engraving dated 1556, by the Spanish artist Gaspar Becerra, active in Italy, author of anatomical plates based on the publications of the Flemish physician André Vasale (1514-1564), "father of modern anatomy" (fig.). On Becerra's plank, the flayed man is standing with his head to the left, lifting a part of the skin of his thigh with the thumb and forefinger of his right hand in order to free the muscles. The right hand of the bronze retains, by the position of the fingers, this gesture proceeding from the dissection. Given by some to a follower of Grupello, this large flayed object does not seem to be attributable to a particular sculptor; it is to be placed in the tradition of the 18th century Encyclopaedists, who endeavoured to bring together all the knowledge, particularly that on human anatomy. Work consulted: Exhibition Paris 1996, Tous les savoirs du monde, Bibliothèque nationale de France, catalogue, p 391.
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