Lot 83: A SET OF FOUR CARVED MARBLE BUSTS REPESENTING THE SEASONS

French, Circa 1700 The busts representing two men and two women, Spring and Summer wearing flowers and wheat sheaves in their hair respectively, Autumn wearing a vine wreath and Winter wrapped in a cloak, each on a pedestal in the form of a volute carved in relief with a symbol representing the season, very minor losses 17 to 17 7/8in. (43.2 to 45.4cm.) high, overall (4) PROVENANCE Sold from the J.P.Morgan family home, Princetown, New Jersey, December 1978, by repute Acquired from Richard Philp, London, 1979. NOTES The present group depicting the four seasons is an example of a longstanding iconographical tradition with roots going as far back as Roman antiquity. The representation of the seasons first gained popularity in the Pompeian frescoes where young women bearing flowers depicted Spring; others with an ear of corn represented Summer; grapes and vine leaves represent Autumn; while old, bearded, heavily draped men represented Winter. In 17th and 18th century France, allegorical groups were extremely popular particularly with Louis XIV, who himself commissioned numerous artists to produce, amongst others, allegories of the Months, Virtues, Elements and Seasons - examples of which can be seen in the Chƒteau de Versailles, and in the Jardins des Tuileries, Paris. While groups of seasons were certainly not uncommon, the treatment of the faces and the attributes is most comparable to a group of seasons in the Hotel de Soubise, Paris, executed by Robert Le Lorrain (1666-1743) in 1708.