Furietti Centaurs

Short description: Pair of Hellenistic or Roman statues

The Old Centaur
(Capitoline Museum)

The Young Centaur

The Furietti Centaurs (known as the Old Centaur and Young Centaur, or Older Centaur and Younger Centaur, when being treated separately) are a pair of Hellenistic or Roman statues in grey-black marble from Laconia (Greece) sculptures of centaurs based on Hellenistic models. One is a mature, bearded centaur, with a pained expression, and the other is a young smiling centaur with his arm raised. The amorini are missing that once rode the backs of these centaurs, which are the outstanding examples of a group of sculptures varying the motif.[1]

The strongly contrasted moods were intended to remind the Roman viewer of the soul troubled in pain with love or uplifted in joy, themes of Plato's Phaedrus and Hellenistic poetry.[2]

## Contents

* 1 Capitoline Centaurs
* 2 Louvre
* 3 Reception
* 4 Notes
* 5 External links

## Capitoline Centaurs

The sculptures were found together at Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli by Monsignor Giuseppe Alessandro Furietti in December 1736; they were the outstanding pieces of his collection of antiquities, which he refused to give to Pope Benedict XIV— at the cost of a cardinal's hat. Furietti was eventually created cardinal priest, by Pope Clement XIII in the consistory of 24 September 1759. After the cardinal's death, his heirs sold the centaurs and the Furietti mosaic of four drinking doves for 14,000 scudi, and they have been in the Capitoline Museum ever since.[3]

Both statues bear the signatures of Aristeas and Papias of Aphrodisias,[4] a city in Asia Minor— we cannot be certain about the exact relationship of the signatures to the sculptures, whether as originators of the model or sculptors of these versions. Where the sculptures were produced is not sure either: whether in Aphrodisias, or whether the artists, of whom nothing else is known, had come from there to Rome. To judge by the stylistic date these Hadrianic copies will date to the late 1st or early 2nd century AD. They are generally assumed to be copies of 2nd century BC bronze[5] Hellenistic originals, though recent critical study, notably by Brunilde Sismondo Ridgway, suggests that many sculptural types usually thought to be Hellenistic are in fact Roman pastiches or inventions.

## Louvre

The Old Centaur (Louvre)

Another copy of the same type as the Old Centaur, this time in white marble, was excavated in Rome in the 17th century (having lost its probable Young Centaur pair). It entered the Borghese collection, but was acquired from Camillo Filippo Ludovico Borghese by Napoleon in 1807 and is now in the Louvre Museum.[6] It has Eros on the centaur's back, teasing him, which has not survived on the Capitoline example, though Eros' arm and foot and the centaur's left arm on this example are restorations, and the base and the support beneath the centaur are modern additions. The original right arm of the centaur is pulled tautly back showing that he has his hands bound tightly behind his back, and "grimaces in pain and sorrow as an amorino pulls the centaur's head back at an abrupt angle."[7]

## Reception

The pair were popular in the 18th century, as illustrations of centaurs that posed them as civilized patrons of hospitality and learning, like Chiron, rather than bestial half-animals (as at the Battle of the Centaurs). With their erotes, they were emblems of the joy of young love and the contrasting bondage of maturity to love,[8] themes to which a Rococo audience would easily respond. The observant Ennio Quirino Visconti[9] remarked on the Bacchic attributes of the Borghese/Louvre centaur, whose amorino is crowned with berried vine, to suggest that the forces in play were those of intoxication rather than love. Jon van de Grift, in examining the iconography of a pair of early Imperial Roman silver scyphi (drinking cups) embossed with motifs of centaurs ridden by erotes, part of the Berthouville treasure,[10] notes that "the motif of an amorino torturing an old sullen centaur, usually within a lively Dionysiac procession, is encountered in Roman mosaics and Dionysiac sarcophagi;"[11] he offers the Furietti centaurs as iconographic parallels.

Casts of them were collected across Europe - for example, the pair at the Royal Academy, London, one at either side of the foot of the main staircase, which are there to this day (in what is now the Courtauld Institute gallery; or those bought by Joseph Nollekens from Bartolomeo Cavaceppi that may still be seen at Shugborough Hall, Staffordshire. Full-sized marble copies were also produced in large numbers - Cavaceppi produced them, and Pietro Della Valle sculpted one in Rome for the count Grimod d'Orsay - he intended it to be placed on a fountain in the Museum Courtyard in 1795, but it was in fact placed at Saint-Cloud in July 1802 (it was later brought to Versailles on 23 March 1872, and on 24 September 1924 moved into the Grand Trianon garden there.[12]

## Notes

1. ↑ M. Bieber, The Sculpture of the Hellenistic Age, rev. ed. (New York, 1961) figs. 581 and 583. The amorino survives on the Louvre centaur.
2. ↑ Van de Grift, "Tears and Revel: The Allegory of the Berthouville Centaur Scyphi" American Journal of Archaeology 88 (July 1984:377-88) esp. pp. 383, where he gives several literary instances in the context of the Furietti centaurs, notably Posidippus, who complains in a poem of the Palatine Anthology of the power of love that drives him alternately "to tears and revel", and Roman references to the paradoxical nature of watered and unwatered wine, which espouse temperance and moderation.
3. ↑ Musei Capitolini, acc. nos. 656 and 658; Helbig, 4th ed., no. 1398 (entry by H. von Steuben).
4. ↑ Squire, Michael (2015-09-11), Borg, Barbara E., ed., "Roman Art and the Artist" (in en), A Companion to Roman Art (Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd): pp. 172–194, doi:10.1002/9781118886205.ch9, ISBN 978-1-118-88620-5, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781118886205.ch9, retrieved 2023-07-25
5. ↑ Bronze originals would not have required the tree-stump supports beneath the bellies.
6. ↑ Louvre acc. no. 562.
7. ↑ Van de Grift 1984:383.
8. ↑ Sexual desires "which torment the old and delight the young", as Francis Haskell and Nicholas Penny observed in discussing this pair, in Taste and the Antique: the lure of classical sculpture, 1500-1900, 1981, cat. no. 20, p. 178; they discuss the reception of the Furietti centaurs p. 179.
9. ↑ Visconti, Monumenti scelti borghesiani, 1837:29, noted by Haskell and Penny 1981.
10. ↑ Van de Grift 1984:38.
11. ↑ Van de Grift 1984:382.
12. ↑ "Château de Versailles webpage". http://www.chateauversailles.fr/en/1_Adopt_a_statue_in_the_Park.php.

## External links

* Louvre catalogue entry

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Louvre Museum

Building

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Antiquities

| Near East
and Middle East|

* 'Ain Ghazal Statue
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* Amarna letter EA 362
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* Amarna letter EA 365
* Amarna letter EA 367
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* Bushel with ibex motifs
* Cippi of Melqart
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* Land grant to Marduk-apla-iddina I by Meli-Shipak II
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Ancient Egypt|

* Gebel el-Arak Knife
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* Cosmetic Spoon: Young Girl Swimming
* Dendera zodiac
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Greece and Rome,
Etruscan|

* Rampin Rider
* Venus de Milo
* Winged Victory of Samothrace
* Albani lion
* Antinous Mondragone
* Apollo of Mantua
* Apollo of Piombino
* Ares Borghese
* Athena of Velletri
* Borghese Gladiator
* Borghese Vase
* Diana of Gabii
* Diana of Versailles
* The Exaltation of the Flower
* Furietti Centaurs
* Venus Genetrix
* Lady of Auxerre
* Marcellus as Hermes Logios
* Apollo Sauroctonos
* Statue of the Tiber river with Romulus and Remus
* Venus and Mars
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* Altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus
* Antioch mosaics
* Barberini ivory
* Borghese Collection
* Boscoreale Treasure
* Dinos of the Gorgon Painter
* Eurytios Krater
* Hercules and the lion of Nemea
* Judgement of Paris (mosaic)
* Nazareth Inscription
* Antinous Mondragone
* Borghese Venus
* Diana of Gabii
* Furietti Centaurs
* Gladiator Mosaic
* Hera Borghese
* Antinous Mondragone
* Apollo Belvedere
* Cupid and Psyche (Capitoline Museums)
* Dying Gaul
* Furietti Centaurs
* Sleeping Ariadne
* Sleeping Hermaphroditus
* Statue of the Tiber river with Romulus and Remus
* Winged Lion of Vulci

Byzantine|

* Harbaville Triptych
* Lampsacus Treasure

Paintings

| French|

* Anonymous: Diana the Huntress; Gabrielle d'Estrées et une de ses sœurs
* Boilly: Artists in Isabey's Studio
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* Chardin: The Attributes of Civilian and Military Music; The Attributes of Music, the Arts and the Sciences; Le Bénédicité; Boy with a Spinning-Top; The Buffet; The Ray; Saying Grace
* Chassériau: Aline Chassériau; Self-portrait; The Toilette of Esther; The Two Sisters
* Claude: Village Fête
* Corot: The Bridge at Narni
* David: Andromache Mourning Hector; The Coronation of Napoleon; The Intervention of the Sabine Women; Leonidas at Thermopylae; The Lictors Bring to Brutus the Bodies of His Sons; The Loves of Paris and Helen; Minerva Fighting Mars; Oath of the Horatii; Portrait of Madame Marie-Louise Trudaine; Portrait of Madame Récamier; Portrait of Pope Pius VII; Self-portrait; Unfinished portrait of General Bonaparte
* Delacroix: The Barque of Dante; The Bride of Abydos; The Death of Sardanapalus; Entry of the Crusaders in Constantinople; Liberty Leading the People; Lion Devouring a Rabbit; Mademoiselle Rose; The Massacre at Chios; The Murder of the Bishop of Liège; Orphan Girl at the Cemetery; Portrait of Frédéric Chopin; The Picador; Women of Algiers; A Young Tiger Playing with Its Mother
* Delaroche: Bonaparte Crossing the Alps; The Young Martyr
* Flandrin: Study
* Fragonard: Coresus Sacrificing Himself to Save Callirhoe; The Bolt
* Géricault: The 1821 Derby at Epsom; The Charging Chasseur; The Raft of the Medusa; The Woman with a Gambling Mania; The Wounded Cuirassier
* Greuze: L'Accordée de Village
* Gros: Bonaparte at the Pont d'Arcole; Bonaparte Visiting the Plague Victims of Jaffa; Napoléon on the Battlefield of Eylau
* Guérin: Jeune fille en buste
* Huet: The Flood of Saint-Cloud; Normandy Thatched Cottage, Old Trouville
* Ingres: The Apotheosis of Homer; Don Pedro of Toledo Kissing Henry IV's Sword; Grande Odalisque; Joan of Arc at the Coronation of Charles VII; Mademoiselle Caroline Rivière; Oedipus and the Sphinx; Portrait of Madame Marcotte de Sainte-Marie; Portrait of Monsieur Bertin; Roger Freeing Angelica; The Turkish Bath; The Valpinçon Bather
* La Tour: The Adoration of the Shepherds; The Card Sharp with the Ace of Diamonds; Joseph the Carpenter; Magdalene with the Smoking Flame; Saint Sebastian Tended by Saint Irene
* Philippe de Champaigne: Ex-Voto de 1662
* Poussin: Et in Arcadia ego; The Four Seasons; The Funeral of Phocion; The Inspiration of the Poet; Landscape with Orpheus and Eurydice
* Quarton: Pietà of Villeneuve-lès-Avignon
* Robert: Principal Monuments of France
* Scheffer: Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta Appraised by Dante and Virgil
* Vernet: A Mediterranean Port
* Vouet: Allegory of Wealth; Hesselin Madonna
* Watteau: The Embarkation for Cythera; The Faux Pas; L'Indifférent; Jupiter and Antiope; Pierrot; The Two Cousins

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Italian|

* Fra Angelico: Coronation of the Virgin
* Antonello da Messina: Christ at the Column
* Arcimboldo: The Four Seasons
* Bellini: Christ Blessing; Madonna and Child with Saint Peter and Saint Sebastian; Portrait of a Young Man
* Botticelli: Three Scenes from the Life of Esther; Venus and the Three Graces Presenting Gifts to a Young Woman; A Young Man Being Introduced to the Seven Liberal Arts
* Caravaggio: Death of the Virgin; The Fortune Teller; Portrait of Alof de Wignacourt and his Page
* Carpaccio: The Sermon of St. Stephen
* Carracci: Fishing; Hunting
* Cimabue: Maestà
* Correggio: Allegory of Vice; Allegory of Virtue; Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine; Venus and Cupid with a Satyr
* Costa: Allegory of Isabella d'Este's Coronation; Reign of Comus
* Ghirlandaio: An Old Man and his Grandson; Visitation
* Giordano: Adoration of the Shepherds; Marriage of the Virgin
* Giotto: Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata
* Guardi: The Doge on the Bucintoro near the Riva di Sant'Elena
* Leonardo: Bacchus; La belle ferronnière; Mona Lisa; Saint John the Baptist; The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne; Virgin of the Rocks
* Lippi: Barbadori Altarpiece; The Healing of Justinian the Canon; Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata
* Lotto: Christ Carrying the Cross; Holy Family with the Family of St John the Baptist; Saint Jerome in Penitence
* Mantegna: Crucifixion; Judgement of Solomon; Madonna della Vittoria; Parnassus; Saint Sebastian; Triumph of the Virtues
* Martini: The Carrying of the Cross
* Moretto: Saints Bonaventure and Anthony of Padua; Saints Bernardino of Siena and Louis of Toulouse
* Palmezzano: Dead Christ
* Panini: Ancient Rome
* Parmigianino: Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine
* Perugino: Apollo and Daphnis; The Battle Between Love and Chastity; Madonna and Child with St John the Baptist and St Catherine of Alexandria; Madonna and Child with St Rose and St Catherine (with Ingegno); St Sebastian; Young Saint with a Sword
* Piero della Francesca: Portrait of Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta
* Pisanello: Portrait of a Princess
* Raphael: Angel Holding a Phylactery; La belle jardinière; The Holy Family of Francis I; Madonna with the Blue Diadem (with Penni); Portrait of Baldassare Castiglione; St. George; St. Michael; St. Michael Vanquishing Satan; Self-Portrait with a Friend; Small Holy Family
* Romano: Portrait of Doña Isabel de Requesens y Enríquez de Cardona-Anglesola (with Raphael)
* Salviati: The Incredulity of Saint Thomas
* Savoldo: Portrait of a Clad Warrior
* Signorelli: Adoration of the Magi; Birth of John the Baptist
* Tintoretto: Self Portrait
* Titian: The Crowning with Thorns; The Entombment of Christ; The Madonna of the Rabbit; Man with a Glove; Pardo Venus; Pastoral Concert (also attributed to Giorgione); Saint Jerome in Penitence; Woman with a Mirror
* Tura: Pietà with Saints
* Uccello: The Battle of San Romano
* Veronese: The Wedding at Cana

Northern|

* Bosch: Ship of Fools
* Bruegel: The Beggars
* Christus: Lamentation (Pietà)
* David: Cervara Altarpiece; Triptych of the Sedano family
* Dürer: Portrait of the Artist Holding a Thistle
* van Dyck: Charles I at the Hunt; Crucifixion with the Virgin Mary, St John and St Mary Magdalene; Madonna and Child with Two Donors
* van Eyck: Madonna of Chancellor Rolin
* Friedrich: The Tree of Crows
* Hals: Catharina Both-van der Eem; The Gypsy Girl; The Lute Player
* Holbein: Portrait of Erasmus of Rotterdam; Portrait of Nicolaus Kratzer
* de Hooch: Card Players in a Rich Interior
* Jordaens: The Four Evangelists
* Matsys: The Money Changer and His Wife
* Memling: Diptych of an elderly couple
* Metsu: The Vegetable Market in Amsterdam
* Rembrandt: The Archangel Raphael Leaving Tobias' Family; Bathsheba at Her Bath; Landscape with a Castle; Pendant portraits of Marten Soolmans and Oopjen Coppit; Philosopher in Meditation; St. Matthew and the Angel; Self-Portrait; Slaughtered Ox
* Rubens: Helena Fourment with a Carriage; Helena Fourment with Children; Hercules and Omphale; Ixion, King of the Lapiths, Deceived by Juno, Who He Wished to Seduce; Marie de' Medici cycle; The Village Fête; The Virgin and Child Surrounded by the Holy Innocents
* Ruisdael: Dune Landscape near Haarlem; The Ray of Light; Storm Off a Sea Coast
* Scheffer: Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta Appraised by Dante and Virgil
* Vermeer: The Astronomer; The Lacemaker
* van der Weyden: Annunciation Triptych; Braque Triptych
* Wtewael: Perseus Freeing Andromeda

Spanish|

* El Greco: Christ on the Cross Adored by Two Donors; Portrait of Antonio de Covarrubias; Saint Louis
* Goya: Portrait of Ferdinand Guillemardet; Portrait of the Marquise de la Solana; Still Life of a Lamb's Head and Flanks
* Murillo: The Birth of the Virgin; The Young Beggar
* Ribera: The Clubfoot
* Zurbarán: Displaying the Body of Saint Bonaventure; Saint Apollonia

English|

* Bonington: Francis I, Charles V and the Duchess of Étampes
* Lewis: Street Scene near the El Ghouri Mosque in Cairo

American|

* Leutze: Christopher Columbus Before the Council of Salamanca

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