Italian school; Grand Tour, 18th century.

Italian School; Grand Tour, XVIII century.
"Athlete".
Bronze and marble and slate base.
Measurements: 20 x 9 x 8 cm.
Sculpture of small format is inscribed in the characteristic production of the Italian school of the XVIII century, closely linked to the cultural phenomenon of the Grand Tour, during which aristocratic travelers and European scholars acquired works inspired by classical antiquity as a souvenir and symbol of humanist formation. The figure of the naked athlete refers directly to Greco-Roman models.
The work presents an anatomy of classical canon, with an attentive study of contained movement and muscular tension, features typical of academic sculpture of ancient inspiration. The gesture and posture evoke Hellenistic models reinterpreted from a modern sensibility, more serene and refined, in accordance with the incipient neoclassical taste of the 18th century.