Guglielmo Pugi

GUGIELMO PUGI (Italy, c. 1850 - 1915).
"Hebe".
Carved marble.
Signed.
Measurements: 81 x 23 x 21 cm.

Round sculpture carved in marble representing Hebe, goddess of youth in classical mythology. She appears dressed in a tunic, with fine folds that adhere smoothly to the body, revealing the anatomy with elegance. The composition adopts a subtle contrapposto, with one leg at rest and the other in charge. She holds a cup in her right hand and a small jug in her left, iconographic attributes that allude to her function as cupbearer of the gods of Olympus. The face, with idealized features, has a peaceful expression and a lowered gaze.

Pugi's workmanship places the piece in the context of the Florentine workshops of the late 19th century, specialized in the reproduction of famous models of the neoclassical repertoire, much in demand by European and American clients.

The model derives from the Hebe of the Danish Bertel Thorvaldsen, one of the most representative figures of European neoclassicism. Conceived in the first decades of the 19th century during the artist's stay in Rome, the work is part of the context of the rediscovery of classical antiquity promoted by Enlightenment thought and Winckelmann's theories, which defended the ideal beauty based on the simplicity and nobility of ancient forms.

Thorvaldsen made several versions of Hebe, reaching great diffusion in his time and becoming a paradigmatic model of neoclassical sculpture. Examples of these versions are preserved in important collections, including the Thorvaldsens Museum, dedicated to the artist, as well as in other European institutions.