Italian school; Grand Tour, 19th century.

Italian School; Grand Tour, XIX century.
"Narcissus".
Bronze.
Measurements: 27 x 12,5 cm.
This bronze sculpture follows the model of the famous Narcissus, derived from the original Hellenistic sculpture discovered in Pompeii in 1862, whose discovery had an enormous repercussion in academic circles and European collectors, quickly becoming a reference for copies and reinterpretations destined for the international cult market. The piece is part of the characteristic production of the Italian school of the nineteenth century, linked to the renewed interest in classical antiquity that accompanied the cultural phenomenon of the Grand Tour.
The figure reproduces the classical ideal of the young man absorbed in his own image, with a harmonious anatomy and a precise study of balance and proportion. The treatment of the nude body, with polished surfaces and restrained modeling, reflects an academic reading of the ancient models, filtered by the late neoclassical sensibility and by the formal rigor typical of the Italian workshops specialized in classically inspired bronzes.
These sculptures were intended for private cabinets, libraries or salons, symbols of humanistic education and knowledge of the classical world. In this context, the present work acquires a remarkable value as a testimony of nineteenth-century collecting, as well as of the continuity of the classical tradition in European sculpture, consolidating its historical and artistic relevance within the framework of the Grand Tour.