Lot 195
Western Europe, Italy, Naples, ca. 19th century CE. A plaster mold or "death mask" depicting the Italian poet Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), based off an unattributed bust of the Florentine in the Capodimonte Museum in Naples. Fifteenth-century masks of Dante now in the Palazzo Vecchio, and the Bargello in Florence, are purportedly taken from sculpted tomb effigies or the dead poet's own face, respectively. But scholars have pointed out the many discrepancies between typical death masks and these of Dante in which the muscles of his face and his eyelids seem instead activated by life. Another reason scholars conclude that these are not a true death mask are because of Dante's nose. A hooked nose is a sign of intelligence and mischief, and throughout the years Dante's nose has become more and more hooked in representations such as Botticelli's portrait of Dante. In 2007, scientists made a reconstruction of the face of Dante; rather than the aquiline nose he was famous for, Dante had a pudgy nose. Size: 4.8" L x 6.75" W x 11.5" H (12.2 cm x 17.1 cm x 29.2 cm)
Despite the unreliable record of Dante's physical appearance, a desire to see, understand, and ultimately possess a likeness of the poet has ensured a market for versions both drawn and sculpted, including "death mask" casts like this one. Surviving so-called death masks of Dante accord largely with Boccaccio's description and furnish a persistent image of the poet with aquiline nose, furrowed brow, downturned mouth, and jutting chin. These casts have attracted veneration since the late fifteenth century and exist in various forms - recast, modified, and photographed from previous models, for tourists, learned societies, and academic libraries in Europe and the United States. For the Romantics like Thomas Carlyle, Dante's visage as understood in his own day was the seat of Dante's heroism as a poet, mingling contradictory emotions of tenderness, pride, and disdain for the pains he encountered and overcame in his lifetime.
Provenance: private Los Angeles, California, USA collection, acquired before 2000
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#186076
- Condition: Some nicks, chips, and scratches as shown with repainting in areas. Scuffs and abrasions to surface. Otherwise, intact.
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