A Large Giallo Antico Marble ‘Grand Tour’ Model of The Marian Column

Object Description

A Large Giallo Antico Marble ‘Grand Tour’ Model of The Marian Column, Attributed To The Workshop Of Benedetto Boschetti.

The Marian Column surmounted by a bronze of the Virgin and Child on a cylindrical pedestal, atop a Corinthian column. The foot cornered by griffins. The square pedestal with Latin inscriptions to each side atop a Portor marble slab.

Italy, Circa 1860.

Models of famous Roman ruins of prize monuments of the Corinthian order of architecture are exemplary of the souvenirs of exquisite quality collected by milordi in Italy on their ‘Grand Tour’.

The superior scale and quality of this example indicates that it is of exhibition quality. Reproductions of antiquities, sculpture and architectural models, often in coloured marbles, were made throughout Italy, with the famous workshops being those of the Valadier family in Venice, Barzanti in Florence and Boschetti in Rome.

The marble giallo antico was one of the most used marbles of the Roman Empire and was mined at Chemtou in Tunisia, ancient Numidia, and hence it’s also known by the Latin name marmor numidicum.

Object History

The Marian Column
So called because of the bronze statue of the Virgin and Child which sits atop, the column in the Piazza Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome is itself ancient having originally supported the vault of the Basilica of Constantine in the Roman Forum which was ruined by an earthquake in the 9th century. The giant Roman Corinthian marble column is over 14 meters high was one of eight but by the 17th century was the only one to have survived. At the behest of Pope Paul V Borghese (Paolo V) it was transported to the Piazza Santa Maria Maggiore in 1614 and embellishments by the architect Carlo Maderno included the bronze statue of the Virgin and Child sculpted by Guillaume Berthélot and Orazio Censore.

The Marian Column with inscriptions:
Front:
PAVIVS V PONT. MAX

MONVMENTVIA INFORMI. SITV. OBDVC TAM NECLECTAMOVE

EX INMANIES TEMPLI PVINIS

OVOD VESPASIANVS AVOVSTVS ACTO DE NOAEIS TRIVMPHO

LOLVMNAM VETERIS MACMIFICENTIAE ET REIPVB STATV CONFIRMATV PACI DICAVER AT IN HANC SPLENDISSIMAM SEDEM AD BASILICAE LIBERIANAE DECOREM AVGENDVM SVO IV SSV EX PORTATAM ET PRISTINO NITORI RESTAVRATAM BEATISSIMAE VIRGINI EX CVIVS VSCERIBVS PRINCEPS VERAE PACIS CENITVS EST DONVM, DEDIT AENEAMQVE EIVS DEM VIRGINIS STATVAM EASTICIO IMPOSVET ANNO SAL. MDCXL111. PONTIRIX

Right side:
IMPVRA FALSI TEMPLA QVONDAM NYMINIS IVBENTE MOESTA SVSTINEBAM CAESARE NVNC LAETA VERI PERFERENS MATPEM DEI TE PAVLE NVLLIS OBTICEBO SAECVLI

Left Side:
IMPVRA FALSI TEMPLA QVONDAM NYMINIS IVBENTE MOESTA SVSTINEBAM CAESARE NVNC LAETA VERI PERFERENS MATPEM DEI TE PAVLE NVLLIS OBTICEBO SAECVLI

Back:
VASTA COLVMNAM MOLE QVAE STETIT DIV PACIS PROFANA IN AEDE PAVLVS TRANSTVLIT IN EXSOVILINVM QVINTVS ET SANTISSIMAE PAX VNDE VERA EST CONSECRAVIT WIRGINI

The workshop of Benedetto Boschetti (1820-1870) was renowned for the exceptional quality of its marble work ‘after the antique’. From his premises at 74 via Condotti in Rome, Boschetti supplied extremely high quality works of art to satisfy the academic and sophisticated tastes of young Englishmen on the Grand Tour.

His work was widely praised and he was awarded a medal at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London. The most celebrated examples of his work today are a mosaic table depicting the Triumph of Cupid in the Gilbert Collection, London, and the fine reductions of the Warwick Vase, in rosso antico now in the Toledo Museum, Ohio.

Object Literature

Gonzalez-Palacios, Alvar, ‘Il tiempo del gusto’, Longanesi (Milan), 1986.

Meyer, Jonathan, ‘Great Exhibitions: London, New York, Paris, Philadelphia, 1851-1900’, Antique Collector’s Club (Woodbridge, UK), 2006; p.41

Object Details