Object Description
Life-size marble sculpture of Spring by Antonio Frilli
Italian, Late 19th Century
Height 159cm, width 47cm, depth 40cm
This superb sculpture is the work of Antonio Frilli, a renowned Italian artist active in the late 19th century, who founded the Frilli gallery in 1860, which is still in production today and which is perhaps best known for making the doors which currently stand in place of Ghiberti’s Doors of Paradise in the Baptistery in Florence.
This particular piece, a wonderfully sensitive and superbly executed sculpture, depicts the goddess of Spring as a life-size female figure: the personification of the season, who clutches a host of flowers in the folds of her dress moments before she is about to disperse them, much like Botticelli’s Primavera from which this work takes obvious inspiration.
Frilli’s gallery is acclaimed for its recreations and replicas of great works of Classical and Renaissance art. This work, from the hand of the master himself, renders Botticelli’s iconic figure in three-dimensional form with superb artistry, translating her graceful poise, beauty, and liberality perfectly into marble. It is signed towards the base ‘A. Frilli / Firenze.’