Lot 1106: After Pierre Julien (French, 1731-1804)

The naked nymph depicted seated on a rocky outcropping clutching her drapery to her breast with her left hand and with her right hand resting on a goat, on a white-veined grey marble base with a gilt bronze relief plaque depicting putti with the attributes of Science, on gilt bronze disc feet, signed to the reverse of the bronze JULIEN and stamped with the foundry mark for Georges Servant G • S MEDAILLE D'OR 1867.
height of sculpture 27in (68.5cm); width 16in (41cm); total height with base 38 3/4in (93cm); width of base 21 1/4in (54cm); depth of base 13 1/2in (34cm)

Amalthea was a nymph from the Cretan slopes who raised the infant Jupiter on milk and honey. The original marble statue was created by Julien for Marie Antoinette's grotto at the Château de Rambouillet and has been called by art historian Michael Preston Worley "one of Julien's greatest achievements" (in: Pierre Julien, Sculptor to Queen Marie-Antoinette, iUniverse, 2003).