Following models of Praxiteles. France, late 19th century-early 20th century.

Following models of PRAXITELES. France, late 19th century-early 20th century.
"Artemis of Gabios".
Sculpture in marble.
Measurements: 73 x 20,5 x 17 cm.

This sculpture reproduces the model of the Artemis of Gabios, one of the most famous representations of classical sculpture, preserved in the Louvre Museum and traditionally linked to the circle of Praxiteles.

The original, discovered in the 18th century in the ancient city of Gabios (Italy), represents the goddess Artemis at the moment of adjusting her mantle, a characteristic gesture that defines the composition: the raised right arm holds a fibula while the left arm gathers the fabric on the chest, generating an elegant play of folds and tensions in the draping.

This model enjoyed enormous popularity throughout the 19th century, becoming one of the most reproduced repertoires in European academies and workshops. Numerous copies were made in different formats and materials -from marble to plaster or porcelain- for both artistic education and bourgeois decoration.

The work presented here responds to this tradition, with a faithful interpretation of the classical type: idealized female figure, balanced counterposture and delicate treatment of the drapery, which shows the survival of the neoclassical taste in French sculpture at the end of the century.

By its format, finish and diffusion of the model, it can be placed within the decorative production of quality made in France between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a period in which the recovery of classical antiquity was one of the main sources of artistic inspiration.

It is a piece of great commercial appeal, combining the elegance of the classical canon with the accessibility of historicist reproductions, highly appreciated in today's market.