Lot 56: A FRENCH PATINATED-BRONZE FIGURE OF PENELOPE

A FRENCH PATINATED-BRONZE FIGURE OF PENELOPE CAST BY BARBEDIENNE, PARIS, FROM THE MODEL BY PIERRE-JULES CAVELIER (1814-1894), LATE 19TH CENTURY Signed ‘J. Cavelier’ and with foundry inscription ‘F. BARBEDIENNE Fondeur’ 37 in. (94 cm.) high; 38 ½ in. (72.5 cm.) wide; 21 in. (53 cm.) deep

(94 cm.) high; 38 ½ in. (72.5 cm.) wide; 21 in. (53 cm.) deep

19TH CENTURY

The present bronze is a reduction of a marble shown by Pierre-Jules Cavelier at Salon of 1849, where it was greeted with great acclaim and equated with the masterpieces of Antiquity. Inspired by Homer’s The Odyssey, the present figure depicts a sleeping Penelope who, in the epic poem, is separated from her husband, Ulysses, while the latter fights in the Trojan War. Pursued by a great deal of suitors, Penelope promises to select from among them once she has completed the weaving of a burial shroud for her father-in-law, but unravels each day’s work in the evening, a task to which Cavelier makes reference through the spool in the figure’s hand and basket of yarn at her feet. Owing to the figure’s great popularity, it was reproduced in several reductions, including by the celebrated foundry Barbedienne, the creator of the present lot.