A handsome youth feeds a swan that he his holding by its neck. Intended as an ornamental piece, Álvarez combines his taste for the dynamic forms of Greek sculpture with the polished, matt finis [+]
The Emperor (1500-1558) is represented with attributes alluding to his power: armor, the necklace of the Golden Fleece and a crossing sash. The armor has a low relief of the Virgin Mary carved on the [+]
In 1562 and 1565 Philip II commissioned the Bonanome brothers to execute two series of busts of the “Twelve Emperors” of whom Suetonius wrote biographies. The monarch was not satisfied with the busts [+]
Numerous portraits of Constantine of this type were produced to mark his victory over Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 312 A. D. Coins of the period depict him as invictus (unconquerab [+]
This portrait of Hadrian (117-138 AD) does not follow a specific classical model, freely interpreting elements such as the curls of his hair and his expression. It may have belonged to Queen Christina [+]
A mother plunges into her own breast the dagger with which she has killed her son, to avoid their being taken by the Carthaginian soldiers, led by Hannibal, who were laying siege to Sagunto, a Spanish [+]
In 1549 in Brussels Charles V commissioned Leone Leoni to execute a group of statues of himself and his deceased wife the Empress Elizabeth of Portugal.They were to be in different formats (bust and h [+]
Double hermae of gods, similar to the image of the two-headed Janus, were created from the first century B. C. onwards for Roman collectors. Here, Aphrodite and her son Eros, the goddess and god of lo [+]
The goddess Fortuna holds a cornucopia and a rudder resting on a globe. The statue is based on a Greek original, an Artemis by the School of Polyclitus (4th century BC), as may be seen from the simila [+]
Álvarez Cubero trained in Rome, and in 1816 was appointed Court Sculptor by King Ferdinand. Because he was Spain’s leading exponent of Neoclassical art, he was known as “the Spanish Canova”. In [+]
A representation of the first amorous encounter of a youthful couple. In a style some have called lyrical, Blay transmits the soft warmth of adolescent figures modeled with exceptional realism. They a [+]
Posthumous life-size statue of Queen Isabel de Braganza (1797-1818), the second wife of Fernando VII (1784-1833). The queen appears sitting on a chair adorned with figures of castles, lions and lilies [+]
The Marquess of Salamanca sold Venus and Mars by Antonio Canova (1757-1822) to the Museo del Prado in 1881. At the time of acquisition, its attribution had been maintained for decades, but when Pavane [+]
Blay customarily made versions of fragments of his works, which he handled separately. This sculpture at the Museo del Prado is a fragment from the group titled The Onset of Winter. During his stay in [+]
Hercules, who defeated the Nemean lion in his first Labour, used his impregnable crocodile’s skin as a cuirass and a lion’s head as a helmet. Alexander the Great was represented in a similar manner fo [+]
This expressive head is executed with great technical virtuosity. Typologically, it can be related to the Pseudo-Seneca which derives from a classical Roman bust traditionally thought to depict this S [+]
Apollo holds a lyre and in keeping with Praxitelean ideals adopts an elegant contraposto pose. The original version was commissioned by Antonio Canova to decorate the Real Casa del Labrador at Aranjue [+]
This impressive portrait of Augustus (27 BC to 14 AD) is by the Bonanome brothers, who were commissioned by Philip II in 1562 and 1565 to execute two series of busts of the first twelve Roman emperors [+]