Neapolitan school. Grand Tour, late nineteenth century.

Neapolitan school. Grand Tour, late nineteenth century.
Pair of wall sconces.
Patinated bronze.
Measurements: 14,5 x 35 cm.

Pair of corbels or ornamental wall sconces. In the center of each plate are represented heads of gorgons from whose mouths come out serpentiform mythological creatures. This body, covered with scales, curves gracefully downward and then forward, forming the arm of the corbel. The design ends in the head of another fantastic animal, possibly a griffin, stylized dolphin or sea monster.

These pieces are a magnificent example of the historicist style of the late 19th century. Belonging to the Neapolitan school of the Grand Tour, they were directly inspired by decorative motifs from ancient Rome and Greece. The use of fantastic creatures was very common in Roman furniture and architecture, especially in elements found in Pompeii and Herculaneum, whose rediscovery greatly influenced neoclassical and later art in Naples.