remembering
the end of eternity (& afterwards)
Cover Arch of Constantine Catalog VI. B
Pantheon Catalog VII.
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Flaminian Obelisk Catalog III.B
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Temples of Castor and Pollux (left) and Vespasian (right) Catalog I. B.
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Equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius Catalog IX. A
Lateran Obelisk Catalog II.
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Contents ( & Afterwards) 13 I. A.Temple of Castor and Pollux 14 B.Temples of Castor and Pollux and Vespasian (pair) 14 C. Column of Phocas 14 II. Lateran Obelisk 22 III. A.Flaminian Obelisk 29 B.Trajan and Antonine Columns (pair) 29 C.Flaminian and Lateran Obelisks (pair) 29 IV. A.Temple of Hercules Victor 34 B. Temple of Hercules Victor 34 C.Temple of Sibyl 34 D.Tomb or Cecilia Metella 36 V. A.Sarcophagus of Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus 38 B.Sarcophagus of Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus 38 VI. A.Arch of Titus 42 B.Arch of Constantine 42 C. Arch of Septimius Severus 42 VII. Set of Roman Souvenir Models (6 pieces) 46 VIII. Trajan’s Column 50 IX A.Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius 54 B.Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius 54 X. A.Baptistry, Pisa 58 B.Baptistry, Pisa 58 X.I. Triumphal Arch, Paris 62 XII. Rouen Cathedral Clock 68 XIII. A.Colonne de Juillet, Paris 72 B. Colonne Vendome, Paris 72 XIV. Siegessaule, Berlin 79 XVI. Reiterstandbild Konig Friedrich II, Berlin 82 XVI. Admiral Lord Nelson’s Column, London 86 Pricing 91 (opposite) Trajan’s Column VIII. 11
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Temple of Vespasian, I.B
(& Afterwards)
by David Weingarten Much has been made of seeming parallels between ancient, imperial Rome and modern, imperial America. Much recommends the analogy. Almost always, this discussion takes form as a cautionary tale – watch out, say some, or our mighty corner of civilization will come crashing down upon us, much as it did with eternal Rome, 1500 years ago.
– Venice, Verona, Siena, Florence, Pisa, San Gimignano and, finally, it needs hardly be said, Rome. The Eternal City was largely jammed; largely, it seemed to me, by Italians; largely taking a great deal of pleasure in being part of the throng out and about along the ancient streets, among the ancient and later genius architecture.
If the forces propelling this are plain enough, is the end of empire the calamity foreseen by some? In the very long run, in post-imperial America, doesn’t life go on?
I detected no hand wringing or other evidences of angst (save for the country’s inflammatory politicians and other military men); over the city’s very long-diminished political and economic position in the world; no regret that the once vast, sprawling Roman empire had contracted back to the city limits, and no shame or foreboding; only that characteristically Roman joy, pride and embrace of their ancient, eternal city’s mortality.
Several months ago, as the virulence of the pandemic slowed sufficiently to permit our stir crazy household to again venture out, we made our way to (where else?) Italy; in search less of novel sights than those long familiar. We stayed first at Palladio’s Villa Saraceno, a farmhouse at once relatively simple and fully spectacular, where we had the run of the place for several of the most memorable days. There we were met by our very energetic guide who, over the course of the next few, rigorous days, arranged visits to nearly all of Palladio’s work in the Veneto (along with an invigorating dash of projects by architect Carlo Scarpa). The schedule was demanding – up early, late to bed – a kind of Palladio boot camp. Visits elsewhere ensued; the usual suspects
This caused me to wonder if our various apprehensions over the ticking down of American empire aren’t misplaced; if there mightn’t be some considerable upside to decline. Imagine this country’s great cities – New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, et. al.,- 500 years from now (or 1,500!), upon a beautiful early Summer day, in late afternoon, the now ancient streets crowded with those participating, hands unwrung, in the pleasures provided by the past.
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Temple of Castor and Pollux, I.A.
Temple of Vespasian I.B. (pair)
Column of Phocas, I.C.
I. Several highly-realized, mid-19th century, marble models of monuments in the Roman Forum A. An extraordinary model of the ruins of the Temple of Castor and Pollux, Rome 27.5”h, c. 1860, giallo antico marble on nero antico marble base. See Pricing. Almost as long as there have been Roman souvenir architectural models, there have been miniatures of the familiar Forum ruins, Temples of Vespasian and Castor and Pollux, beginning in the first part of the 19th century. During the French occupation of Rome, archaeological excavations revealed much of the temples‘ current forms. While we think of these places as ancient, it was to an extent their newly revealed forms, their novelty, that spurred the production of these temples’ mementos.
I.B.
B. A pair of highly-detailed models of the ruins of the Temples of Vespasian and Castor and Pollux, Rome 19”h, c. 1860, giallo antico marble on nero antico marble base. See Pricing. Like the other models offered here, this pair of souvenirs is carved from ancient giallo antico marble, brought to Rome from Tunisian, in the time of Augustus, and once forming part of the ancient City’s architectural fabric. C. Column of Phocas, Rome 27”h., c. 1870, giallo antico on nero antico marble base. See Pricing. The last monument built in the Roman Forum celebrated not a Roman, but a Byzantine emperor – Flavius Phocas, who reigned from 602 to 610. This was a catch-as-catchcan landmark – the column salvaged from another building, built atop the foundation of a previous monument, the dedicatory inscription on the base written over an earlier text.
Temple of Castor and Pollux, I.B. (pair)
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(This page and opposite) Temple of Castor and Pollux, I.A.
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Temples of Castor Castor and and Pollux Pollux and and Vespasian, B. VespasianI.I.B.
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Column of Phocas, I. C. 20
Column of Phocas I. C.
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II. Lateran Obelisk, Rome 29-1/2”h., c. 1820. Fire gilded bronze on antique Egyptian Aswan granite base. By Wilhelm Hopfgarten & Ludwig Jollage. See Pricing The very great majority of architectural models offered by Piraneseum, no matter how exquisitely rendered, were made as tourists’ souvenirs – evocative mementos of visits to the very most memorable places. Occasionally though, a souvenir of a different, surpassing order comes our way. This extraordinary model of Rome’s Lateran Obelisk was cast and finished in the first part of the 19th century by two Prussian emigres to Rome, Wilhelm Hopfgarten and Ludwig Jollage – whose work came to be valued by popes, kings, and heads of state; leading sculptors like Bertel Thorvaldsen, (who employed the pair to cast their works, after failed attempts to lure them into their employ); and the very most wellheeled. Hopfgarten and Jollage’s production of architectural souvenirs (they cast gilded models of the Trajan and Antonine Columns; Marcus Aurelius Equestrian Monument; Arches of Constantine and, possibly, Septimius Severus; Capitoline Wolf, as well as the Flaminian and, as we see here, Lateran Obelisk was extensive; and supplanted the even more rarefied, often one-of-a-kind works made, until then, by Rome’s leading, storied decorative arts workshops, especially that operated by the Valadier family. What is today called the Lateran Obelisk was originally erected in Karnak, c. 1400 BC, at the direction of a couple of Pharoahs Thutmose. Seventeen hundred years later (!), early in the 4th century AD, Roman Emperor Constantinus directed that the immense red Aswan granite monolith be floated down the Nile to Alexandria. By the middle of that century, the obelisk was on its way to Rome, where it was erected at the center of the Circus Maximus. Rome fell, and 1200 years later (!) in the 1580’s,
Pope Sixtus V directed that the three broken pieces of the long ago toppled monument be excavated and re-assembled in the Piazza fronting the Cathedral of St. John the Lateran. The bottom 12 feet of this obelisk were too damaged to re-use (in this way). Even without this, though, the monument remains the world’s largest standing Egyptian obelisk. That, of course, does not mean the discarded Aswan granite went to waste. Instead, it was employed, at least in part, as souvenirs, including the stone mount to the offered model. Cast into the model’s base are Latin inscriptions, which do not reflect those inscribed when the obelisk was re-erected. Instead, these mirror the inscriptions chiseled into the base when it was originally brought to Rome, more than fifteen hundred years ago. The Lateran is one of many ancient Egyptian obelisks in Rome, which is home to more of these monuments than Egypt. Hopfgarten and Jollage’s Roman gilded architectural models are vanishingly scarce. We know of pairs of both their obelisks and their columns in Milan’s Pinacoteca Ambrosiana; and happened across another set of both their columns and obelisks in an out-of-the-way section of Rome’s Lateran Palace, the ancient part of the St. John the Lateran complex, close to the Lateran Obelisk itself. We asked if we might take a picture. The answer – “Non e possibile”. Last year, a pair of obelisks made six figures. For more about the Prussians, an engaging 2016 volume – Hopfgarten and Jollage Rediscovered – Two Berlin Bronzists in Napoleonic and Restoration Rome, by Chiara Teolato, includes photographs of the firm’s gilded column and obelisk pairs, though not of the Marcus Aurelius and Capitoline Wolf models, not their Arches of Constantine or, possibly, Septimius Severus. 23
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III. Roman souvenir architectural models in rosso antico marble After serial sackings, ending in 1527, the ground in Rome lay thick with broken, ruined, often highly-figured and exotic, polychrome marble fragments, largely brought to the Eternal City in time of Augustus. A hundred years later, this debris began to be re-fashioned into ornamentation and the range of decorative arts, including architectural souvenirs. The variety of mementos offered here were all carved from the same material – rosso antico marble – an antique stone first quarried in Greece, popular with scarpellini, or stonecutters, from the later 18th through to the early 19th century, when supplies of this distinctive stone waned. Roman souvenir architectural models are often best dated by their materials. As rosso antico became scarce, it was replaced in the 1830’s by nero antico – a black stone, Greek in origin, in use through the 1850’s. This material too petered out, and giallo antico, an antique yellow marble quarried in present-day Tunisia, became the default material of architectural mementos, at least until the 1870’s, when it, too, became scarce and was overtaken by a labaster, quarried near Volterra, near Florence.
A. Flaminian Obelisk, Rome 30-1/2”h., c. 1830, rosso antico on nero antico marble base. See Pricing
Substantially taller than most Roman souvenir architectural models, this memento features extensive Latin inscriptions, rendered in a gold colored paste set in carved letters, at all four sides of the base – a reliable indication of a better model – with elaborately carved hieroglyphics at the obelisk, again varying from face to face. B. Trajan and Antonine Columns, Rome 16”h., c. 1840, rosso antico on nero antico marble base, bronze figures. See Pricing.
Produced as a pair, these souvenirs are identified simply at their bases, while featuring spiraling incised decoration at their shafts. With Trajan’s Column, the story is of his conquest of the Dacians; With the Antonine Column, the tale is oddly of another Emperor’s – Marcus Aurelius’ military campaigns against the Germans and Sarmatians. C. Flaminian and Lateran Obelisks, Rome 17”h., c. 1840, rosso antico on nero antico marble base. See Pricing
Simply described at their inscribed bases as the Obeliscum Flaminius and Obeliscum Lateranensis, both models nonetheless feature highly-rendered hieroglyphics along the length of their shafts, the incised images varying from face to face.
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III. C. (pair)
III. B. (pair)
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(this page and opposite) Flaminian Obelisk III.A
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Trajan and Antonine Columns III. B (pair)
Flaminian and Lateran Obelisks III. C. (pair)
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IV. Mid-19th century models of two Roman temples and a mausoleum, Rome A. Temple of Hercules Victor (Temple of Vesta), Rome 6-1/2”h., c. 1860, patinated bronze on giallo antico marble base. See Pricing B. Temple of Hercules Victor (Temple of Vesta), Rome 3-1/2”h., 1890’s, green patinated bronze on Belgian black marble base, 1890’s, 3-1/2”h. See Pricing C. Temple of Sibyl, Tivoli, right 5-1/2”h., c. 1860, patinated bronze on Belgian black marble base. See Pricing D. Tomb of Cecilia Metella, Rome 3-3/4”h., c. 1860, patinated bronze on Portaro marble base. See Pricing
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IV. B.
In the last years of the Roman Republic and early part of the Empire, the taste for circular plan architecture found form in several of the period’s most significant monuments. The Pantheon, Temple of the Sibyl, Tomb of Caecilia Metella, and Castel Sant’Angelo, among others. As with so much else, this enthusiam derived from Greek sources, especially the tholos, which imparted to round Roman buildings an edifying extra measure of authority.
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Interestingly, among the circular mid-19th century, bronze mementos offered here is one , the Temple of Hercules Victor – built slightly before circular buildings became the Roman rage, in the second century B.C. Make no mistake about its architectural sources though; this temple, Rome’s oldest marble building, was built of stone imported from Greece.
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V. Sarcophagus of Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus, Rome A. 7-1/2”h. c. 1850 Peperino stone, box, (includes card printed” V. l’Hote, Consul de France”, along with a note offering this model as a gift to his son-inlaw). See Pricing B. 3”h. c. 1850, giallo antico on nero marble, box. See Pricing
Sometimes/more often than not/ almost always, enduring forms rely as much on felicitous timing as momentous deeds. In 298 BCE, Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus, a Roman Consul, led his army to a great victory over the Etruscans at the Battle of Volterra. Twentyeight years later, he was dead, entombed in a particularly handsome sarcophagus, placed in the family vault along the Appian Way, and forgotten.
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Until, 2000 years later, when it was rediscovered, just in time to act on the imaginations of ever-increasing throngs of Roman tourists, may of whom returned home with models of Lucius’ sarcophagus. Why were these such a hit? Don’t they satisfy a range of curiosities - morbid and military, historical and hubristic; - over empire lost
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subtitled “The spectres are led from the tomb of Scipio to the Palatine Hill.” Not long afterwards – “they cried out with one accord. Alas! How idle the hope of immortal fame! In thy native land, by thee so ennobled, O Scipio! So gone is thy glory, that thy heedless descendants deliberately trample over the fragments of thy tomb.”
and rediscovered; the past and the future; the accumulation of Rome-antic memories. Roman Nights; Or, the Tomb of the Scipios, a c. 1800 nocturnal fantasia, by Allessandro Verri, a not very important Italian author, begins with a chapter
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VI. Three Arches in the Roman Forum, carved in alabaster A. Arch of Titus, 4-1/8”h., c. 1880, alabaster on alabaster base. See Pricing. B. Arch of Constantine, 6”h., c. 1880, alabaster on black marble base. See Pricing. C. Arch of Septimius Severus, 3-3/4”h., c. 1880, tinted alabaster on alabaster base. See Pricing.
expensive than marble and considerably softer and easier to work, encouraged new subjects like those offered here. Unsurprisingly, reductions of the Arch of Constantine occur more frequently than those of other of the city’s arches. Our Arch
In the late 19th century, as production of Roman architectural mementos increasingly shifted to models carved in Italian alabaster from Volterra, south of Florence, the subjects of these souvenirs changed as well. Before then, few scarpellini undertook marble models of Rome’s triumphal arches. Alabaster, much less
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(left) V (above) (right)
VI. A. ) VI. B. VI. C.
of Constantine is carved from unusually translucent Volterran alabaster. Both this and the Arch of Septimius Severus were fashioned before Volterran quarries only offered the bright white, granular alabaster seen in objects from c. 1890 well into the 20th century.
The offered model of the Arch of Titus displays a seldom seen, highly figured, polychrome alabaster, again from Volterra. Until its 1809 restoration by architect Guiseppe Valadier, the Arch of Titus, at the entrance to the Forum, was difficult to make out – substantially ruined, missing important architectural elements, and hidden beneath layers of later accretions. In this way, it was unlike two other triumphal arches in the Forum – the Arches of Constantine and Septimius Severus, which, though their lower portions were buried, remained largely intact, visible, better known; and more often emulated in souvenir monuments than Titus’ monument.
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VII. A visit to a late 19th century Roman souvenir shop (left to right) Temple of Castor & Pollux, 6-1/2”h., Arch of Constantine, 3-1/4” h., Temple of Vespasian, 4-1/2” h. Temple of Hercules Victor, 3-1/4” h. Pantheon, 4”h., Colosseum, 2” h. c. 1880’s, Six abaster models. See Pricing.
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If, 140 years ago, you’d found yourself in the somewhat modest shop of a Roman purveyor of that city’s souvenirs, the available architectural models might have looked a great deal like these – a variety of great monuments, economically rendered in carved alabaster, tinted to resemble the much more expensive marble, giallo antico, in which these same landmarks had been carved in the preceding two decades.
While we think of ancient Roman monuments as immutable, many have changed, some not so long ago. Occasionally, these differences help us date their souvenirs. In the 17th century, a pair of bell towers was added to the front of the Pantheon. Unloved, they came to be known as the “asses’ ears”, their design attributed to Bernini. (In fact, their architect was Carlo Maderno.) In 1883, or 1892, or the 1870’s depending upon which history we believe they were removed.
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VII. Temple of Hercules Victor 48
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VIII. Rome, in Paris? An impressive, Parisian-made, gilded bronze model of Trajan’s Column in Rome 31-1/2”, c. 1860, gilded bronze on Belgian black marble baseю By Freres LeBlanc. See Pricing. Beginning in the late 18th century, this monument became a go-to subject for Roman souvenir makers. Early examples in ormolu and semi-precious stone were produced by the fanciest makers, including the studios of the Valadiers and Bellis. By the first part of the 19th century, gilded and dark-patinated examples were offered by the city’s Hopfgarten and Jollage, and shortly afterward, in various antique stones, by a range of other makers, featuring work both highly-realized and more pedestrian. The present model, in gilded bronze, is very well -made and breaks new ground in the evolving definition of architectural souvenirs; for here is a memento or an ur-Roman monument, produced and sold in Paris! It’s testament to the Eternal City’s hold on the period’s popular imagination. Made by the Parisian foundry Freres Le Blanc, notice the firm’s characteristic closely - observed, carefully-wrought detail and rich finish, which approaches that seen in earlier Roman examples. This memento mirrors the c. 1830 English practice of producing, in so-called ‘Darbyshire Marble’, models of well-known, foreign, often Italian, monuments for sale to stay-at-home locals. No longer was it necessary to bother with expensive, arduous voyages to faraway places in order to secure their terrific souvenirs.
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IX. Emperor on a Horse Two equestrian statues of Marcus Aurelius, Rome A. 23-1/2”h., c. 1830, patinated bronze By Hopfgarten and Jollage. See Pricing. B. 11” h., c. 1870, patinated bronze on antique white marble. See Pricing. When did a guy on a horse become emblematic of authority? In ancient Rome there were, at one point, a couple of dozen of this species of monument. Almost of course, the phenomenon appears to have begun in Greece, as early as the 6th century B.C., and in full swing by the 3rd century B.C., with a figure called the Thracian Horseman – a mythic military figure (related to the god-like Heros?) shown atop a rearing horse, brandishing in his right hand a spear – a pose not distant from that seen in the present mementos.
The larger of the two models here is particularly fine, exactingly-realized by Hopfgarten and Jollage (Piraneseum’s favorite foundry), in dark-patinated bronze. Note the Latin inscription to the Michelangelo – designed base, whose characters are struck with a die, not cast. The more modest memento, however, equally sparks our memories of the remarkable place.
The Marcus Aurelii offered here are souvenirs of the sole Roman survivor among the herd of the city’s equestrian monuments, the balance having been melted down and carried off in the course of various sackings. Originally cast, in gilded bronze, in 175 AD, by 1538 the monument had found its way to the center of Michelangelo’s surpassing re-arrangement of Rome’s Campidoglio atop a resplendent base designed by the famously ‘divine’ architect/ sculptor/painter/poet. ‘Divinity,’ of course, does not preclude the darker shades of humanity, and Michelangelo hardly hid his unhappiness at his client’s, Pope Paul III, directions that the monument be featured to the center of the Campidoglio. Paul III, likely imagined his inspiration not less divine than that of his architect.
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(left) IX. B. (right) IX. A
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X. Not the Leaning Towers, Pisa Baptistry of St. John, Pisa A. 10-1/2”h., 1870’s, carved alabaster, paint over gilded paint base, See Pricing B. 12”h., 1890’s, carved alabaster with glass dome. See Pricing Neither Roman, nor a ruin, the material of these Pisan architectural mementos –alabaster quarried in nearby Volterra – was in use with models in Rome, Florence, Pisa, and elsewhere by the third quarter of the 19th century. When we think of Italian alabaster, what may come to mind is the soft, granular, bright white stone from which souvenir knick-knacks were crudely carved into the 20th century. In fact, the Volterran quarries, first set to use by the Etruscans 25 centuries earlier, offered a wide range of colored alabasters. One mid-19th century catalog lists 40 different types. The present, intricately carved models of Pisa’s 14th century Baptistry, are assembled from several varieties of alabaster – a highly translucent yellow veined stone; grey; and white. With alabaster pieces from this period, souvenir sellers sought the rich patina of ancient Roman marbles, though rendered in this far less costly material. Towards this, they devised an unusual, pragmatic, finish, “An artificial polish is given by the application with a woolen cloth of a paste compounded of bone dust and common soap,” notes Stone Magazine (1895).
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XI. Triumphal Arch, Paris 11”h., 1870’s, dark patinated bronze, Belgian black marble base By Freres LeBlanc, Paris. See Pricing. By the 1870’s, Parisian trade in architectural souvenirs was dominated by a single firm – Freres LeBlanc, which turned out high quality, dark patinated, cast bronze models of severalof the city’s landmarks, including the Colonnes de Juillet and Vendome, Luxor Obelisk, and the present Arc de Triomphe. With this understandably Francophile bias, it was surprising to learn the Le Blanc boys also produced highly-rendered souvenir models of Rome’s Trajan’s Column, a discovery taking place only with the disassembly of a slightly out of the ordinary replica, revealing the hidden LeBlanc mark.
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XII. Rouen Cathedral Clock 20-1/2” h., c. 1835, fire-gilded bronze By Bavozet Freres. See Pricing. This remarkably-detailed, fire-gilded bronze case represents the south façade (called the Portail de Calende) of Rouen Cathedral, rather than the more familiar west front, which because of its proportions and asymmetries may have been thought unsuitable for a souvenir and too difficult to manufacture. The case was made in Paris by Bavozet Frères, and is an exacting miniature.
Typically, these Bavozet cases were purchased by Parisian makers of clock movements, and once assembled, retailed by the movement makers. Thus, it is not unusual to see the identical clock cases sporting the labels of different shops. The present model, as often the case, is unmarked.
Hans Ottomeyer and Peter Proschel’s 1986 Vergoldete Bronzen pictures a Bavozet Frères’ gilt bronze clock case in the form of Rheims Cathedral, which it dates to 1835. The caption describes an 1837 issue of the Almanach du Commerce, which mentions the firm’s clock cases, miniatures of the cathedrals of Notre Dame de Paris, and two sizes and finishes of Rheims, and Rouen – the model offered here. Bavozet began business by 1823 and cast these sorts of models until at least 1847. The fire gilding process, with which these models were finished, involved coating bronze castings with an amalgam of mercury and gold, to which was applied a torch, causing the mercury to vaporize, leaving behind a thin gilt layer. The airborne mercury, of course, was terrifically toxic, sufficiently so that this method of gilding was outlawed in France in the 1830’s.
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XIII. Two Columns, Paris A. Colonne de Juillet B. Colonne Vendome Both – 26” h, c. 1865, patinated bronze, Belgian black marble base. By Freres LeBlanc. See Pricing With Parisian souvenir architectural models, including the Colonnes Juillet and Vendome, Luxor Obelisk, and Arc de Triomphe, by the mid 19th century, no firm was more prolific than the city’s Freres LeBlanc. Models of these Parisian landmarks might be lavishly turned out, including thisbronze pair of souvenir architectural models An 1859 “Annuares et Almanaches du Commerce” lists the Freres LeBlanc’s wares including “coupes, statuettes, colonnes, arcs de triomphe, objets d’art”; while an llustrated advertisement in the 1878“ Annuaire du Commerce Diderot”pictures “Ancienne Maison LeBlanc Freres” bronze models. Souvenir models of Colonne Vendome changed over the course of the 19th century, mirroring alterations to the monument itself, which was repeatedly edited (and for a time destroyed) according to the predilections of Paris politics. Completed in 1810, the Colonne originally featured Napoleon gotten up in ancient Roman dress, as an Emperor; unsurprising, as the design of this Column hews very closely to that of Trajan’s Column in Rome. By 1833, after political changes including the removal of the original Napoleon, a new figure, picturing him in military habit – the so-called “Little Corporal” – was hoisted to the top. Thirty years later, it was time for the Little Corporal to go, replaced by a statue replicating the original, except in mirror image, 72
the figure we see today, which matches that of the memento on offer, confirming the souvenir’s date. The two patinated bronze architectural monuments, both dating to the 1860’s, are impressive both for their unusual height and very high level of carefully-worked detail.
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(this page and opposite) Colonne Vendome XIII.B 75
(this page and opposite) Colonne de Juillet, XIII.B. 76
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XIV. Siegessaule, Berlin 28” h., c. 1880, electroplated copper on cast zinc, and painted wood base. See Pricing Designed in 1864 to commemorate a Prussian victory over Denmark. By 1873, when the monument was dedicated, the country celebrated the additional defeats of Austria and France. With these, it was decided to add the 27 foot tall, gilded bronze figure of Victoria at the column’s summit. (The monument was cast by Berlin’s Gladenbeck Foundry, which also produced magnificently realized models of other important German monuments, including Berlin’s Equestrian Statue of Frederick the Great – an example is offered in this catalog). The changes didn’t stop there. Originally located in Berlin’s Konigsplatz, adjacent to the Reichstag, in 1939 Hitler directed his architect, Albert Speer, to draw plans for the relocation of the monument to the center of the Grossen Stern, a vast convergence of roads in Berlin’s Tiergarten District, in line with a new triumphal route, on axis with and running through the Brandenburg Gate. For emphasis, Der Fuhrer, insufficiently impressed with the monument’s monumentality, had Speer add
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25 feet to the Column’s height, yielding the 220 foot tall landmark we see currently. Today, the Column shaft is made up of four distinct sections, including the one added by Speer. The offered model features three segments, identifying it as dating from the period before the monument’s 1939 relocation, likely much nearer in time to the Column’s 1873 dedication. The model possesses the high level of detail and finish characteristic of German foundries in this period. Note especially the remarkably precise, cast copper rendering of the monument’s basrelief at the model’s base. The Column’s shaft is decorated with gilded cannon barrels captured from defeated adversaries. Still, the method and materials of assembly suggest a replica of very limited production. Many of these sorts of small, European cast metal decorative objects were lost to the depredations of World War. Additionally, after these conflicts, especially in Germany, there was little enthusiasm for preserving the models of monuments whose meanings and memories had been taken over by humanity’s darkest impulses. What was one person’s victory column oh-so-quickly transformed into another’s memento mori.
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XV. Reiterstandbild Konig Friedrich II von Pruessen, Berlin 32-1/2” h., 1850’s, cast copper and electroplated zinc on a painted wood base. By Hermann Gladenbeck. See Pricing
Rauch gestiegen!” – Rauch, in German, being both the name of his former pupil and the word for ‘smoke’!
“This exquisitely produced model of the equestrian statue of Frederick the Great …… is the finest and most artistic achievement,” read the Illustrated Catalogue of the Paris Industrial Exhibition (1867).
Schadow died in 1850, a year before the Reiterstandbild was unveiled. Rauch followed in 1857, weakened, say some accounts, by three decades of work on this extraordinarily ambitious monument.
There are 19th century architectural models which, though made in multiples, should not be counted souvenirs, at least not in any conventional sense. This model records the surpassing work of the greatest 19th century German sculptor – Christian Daniel Rauch (1777 - 1857) - with his most important commission and greatest triumph – the Equestrian Monument to Frederick the Great, in Berlin.
Actually, “extraordinarily ambitious” understates the purposes and presence of this 44 foot tall sculpture. In addition to the almost hyper-realistically rendered figure of Frederick atop his favorite steed, Conde – modeled on Rome’s equestrian monument to Marcus Aurelius, the base includes full-size, nearly fully dimensional figures of 74 great men of Frederick’s time: four important generals on their horses; the cardinal virtues; scenes from Frederick’s childhood; and various written tributes; all within a subtly-proportioned yet monumental framework. Make a monument to that!
The monument’s prehistory, almost of course, is long and roundabout. It required 65 years after Frederick’s death (1740 - 1786) before a design was agreed upon, in 1839, and another dozen years for the landmark’s bronze elements to be cast and assembled in time for unveiling on May 31, 1851, the 111th anniversary of Frederick’s enthronement . Rauch, pre-eminent German sculptor of his time, was first involved with the project 29 years earlier, discussing it with the greatest German Neo-Classical architect, Karl Friedrich Schinkel (1781 - 1841). Developing a competing design for the monument was famed German sculptor Johann Gottfried Schadow (1764 - 1850), who had been Rauch’s teacher. Upon losing the commission to his former student, Schadow exclaimed “Mein Ruf est in Rauch gestiegen!” – “My reputation has gone up in smoke! Of course, he spoke not in English, but in German – “Mein Ruf est in
If not quite the sturm and drang of an opera by Richard Wagner (1813 – 1883), another German creative at work in this general period, the Reiterstandbild’s dramatic rendition of majesty, in all its depth, leaves viewers in similar states of awe. Here Architecture is far less frozen music than royal life at a boil. Foundryman Carl Gustave Hermann Gladenbeck (1827 – 1918) apprenticed at Germany’s Royal foundry before beginning his own business in Berlin in 1851, the year the Reiterstandbild was completed. It may be that making this model of the monument was his first commission; he cast three in 1851. The identity of his client is not clear, though it is recorded that Rauch played a role in the design of the model. The monument’s complexity (and, presumably, Rauch’s insistence on fidelity to 83
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the monument) dictated complex, innovative casting methods. What appears today as a single object is, in fact, assembled from multiple castings later joined together. A look inside the hollow base reveals the involved construction. It should not be forgotten that Gladenbeck also produced large, outdoor monuments, including the monumental gilded bronze figure of victory atop Berlin’s Siegessaule The most accomplished and ambitious bronzecaster of his period, he also cast imposing, complex replicas of the other famed German monuments – Berlin’s “Denkmal des Grossen Kurfursten Friedrich Wilhelm,” designed by the architect Andreas Schluter (1660 – 1714), and the 1871 Niederwalddenkmal, at Ruesheim, by sculptor
Johannes Schilling. Gladenbeck-made castings, in zinc rather than much more expensive bronze, were electroplated in either copper or a bronze-colored alloy, and finished in a dark patina. Models of this Equestrian Statue were cast in three sizes – the smallest half that of the middle size, which was half that of the largest size, which was five feet tall. The present model is an example of the middle size. It appears the firm continued producing complete replicas through to the late 1870s, possibly later. A separate cast of Frederick and Conde, with the base, was also available in this later period. These elaborate, out-size models served several purposes, of course. Edification tops this list. A significant number of the large models found their ways into museums, including Berlin’s National Gallery, as well as London’s South Kensington Museum, Glasgow Art Gallery, Art Institute of Chicago, and Corcoran Gallery in Washington D.C., among others. Other models made very swell gifts. A December 24, 1872 letter from Count Bismarck to King Wilhelm – “I thank your majesty most heartily for the handsome and distinguished present (Gladenbeck’s model) for Christmas Eve.” The models also proved terrific marketing materials for Rauch, dispatched at his direction to various European royals and others sponsoring splendid new monuments. In our slightly more democratic world, royal blood is no longer required to possess Hermann Gladenbeck’s surpassing model of 19th century sculptor Christian Daniel Rauch’s greatest work. At Piraneseum, we accept Mastercard.
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XVI. Admiral Lord Nelson’s Column, London Dark-patinated bronze & granite, 26″ h, produced by the Art Union of London. Original model by W. F. Woodington. Replica by Giovanni Franchi, 1 of 25, 1868. See pricing. This very finely-detailed, bronze replica was sponsored by the Art Union of London, established in 1837, whose goal –“to aid in extending the love of the Arts of Design throughout the United Kingdom, and to give encouragement to Artists” – was met through a subscription scheme and distribution of prizes – modest works of Art – via lottery. In 1868, the Union’s Report of the Committee of Management recorded that “Mr. W. F. Woodington, one of the artists engaged to model the bas-reliefs on the base of the Nelson Column, has prepared an exact copy of the monument on a scale of 1/7 inch to the foot, and copies in bronze, executed by Mssrs. Franchi, will form part of the prize. The account later advises there will be “25 Bronzes of the Nelson Column.” The timing of the Art Union’s interest may have been inspired by the addition to the monument’s base, a year earlier (1867), of four large, Edwin Landseer–designed lions (part of Railton’s original 1839 plan for the Column).
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William F. Woodington’s (1806 – 1893) large, bronze, bas-relief – the Battle of the Nile – joined three other identically sized plaques at the Column’s pedestal, each fashioned by a different sculptor, including the Battle of St. Vincent, Bombardment of Copenhagen, and Death of Nelson. Woodington’s work on the Art Union model is all precision. The “Mssrs. Franchi” mentioned in the Art Union Report … were undoubtedly Giovanni Franchi (1811-1874) and his son (18321870). This London company specialized in electrotype – “the only electrotypist(s) who devote themselves exclusively to Fine Art”, reported the Art Journal (1866). The company was acquired in 1874 by the British behemoth silver manufacturer Elkington & Co., who were devoted to profit. By 1876, Art Union membership had swelled to 20,000, testimony to their successes in “extending the love of the Arts of Design”; as well as their marketing scheme. Who doesn’t like to win a prize? And yet, 20 years later, challenged by new methods of delivering Art to an increasingly receptive public, the Union counted fewer than 5,000 subscribers, before disbanding in 1912.
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Pricing
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A. Castor and Pollux 17,500 B. Temples of Castor and Pollux and Vespasian (pair) 15,000 C. Column of Phocas 6,500 II Lateran Obelisk, Hopfgarten and Jollage 55,000 III. A. Flaminian Obelisk 19,500 B. Trajan and Antonine Columns (pair) 8,500 C. Lateran and Flaminian Obelisks (pair) 7,500 IV. A. Temple of Hercules Victor 7,500 B. Temple of Hercules Victor 750 C. Temple of Sibyl, Tivoli 4,500 D. Tomb of Caecilia Metella 4,500 V. A. Sarcophagus of Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus 9,500 B. Sarcophagus of Lucius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus 3,500 VI. A. Arch of Titus 4,500 B. Arch of Constantine 4,500 C. Arch of Septimius Severus 3,500 VII. Group of Alabaster Monuments, 6 pieces 7,500 VIII. Trajan’s Column 18,500 IX. A. Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius 12,500 B. Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius 7,500 X. A. Baptistry of St. John 7.500 B. Baptistry of St. John 7,500 XI. Triumphal Arch 7,500. XII. Rouen Cathedral Clock 22,500 XIII. A. Colonne de Juillet 7,500 B. Colonne Vendome 7,500 XIV. Siegessaule 16,500 XV. Reiterstandbild Konig Friedrich II von Pruessen 25,000 XVI. Nelson’s Column 14,500 (opposite) Arch of Titus VI.A Back Cover Trajan’s Column VIII.
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