Two large wooden medallions, each with a finely sculptured centaur of bronze painted pâte. Pâte is a mixture of chalk, silkpaper, bone-glue and water, which is very suited for making refined details.
One of the pictures is based on a fresco of a centaur, captured by a bacchante. This fresco was discovered in 1748 in Pompeï. It was already depicted in the series 'Le Antichità di Ercolano Esposte', that was published from 1757 onwards. The other centaur, with Amor on his back, seems to be inspired by the Borghese centaur, a marble statue that was in the Borghese collection and that was bought in 1807 by Napoleon. It is now in the Louvre in Paris. Statues or engravings of Centaurs were beloved objects acquired on Grand Tour in Italy and France.
The original wooden medallions now with a grey faux-marbre finishing; the pâte has some restaurations. On the back of both panels old blue-printed labels with the inscription "LE GARDE MEUBLE PUBLIC / BEDEL & Cie. / 18. Rue St. Augustin." With the same stamp number "48444".
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