Panther Attacking a Goat

Description

One of the best known restorers of ancient sculpture, Franzoni often invented totally new compositions from small fragments. However, this sculpture is entirely Franzoni’s own work, down to the breaks seen in such places as the panther’s tail and the goat’s legs and jaw. Curiously, Franzoni based this work on one of his own restorations, now in the Vatican, although his composition here is more balanced and elegant, in keeping with ideas in the late 1700s about how ancient sculpture should look.

Provenance

Private collection (Italy), sold, Sotheby's, London, July 9, 2008, lot 165, to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 2008.

Panther Attacking a Goat

Francesco Antonio Franzoni

late 1700s

Accession Number

2008.109

Medium

marble

Dimensions

Overall: 43.8 x 66.5 x 28.5 cm (17 1/4 x 26 3/16 x 11 1/4 in.)

Classification

Sculpture

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

Dudley P. Allen Fund