17th Century Baroque Marble Figure of the Minotaur, Italy, Set of 2

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Marble figure of the minotaur, 17th century baroque style, italy. Beige/grey marble. Minotaur on a rectangular "rosso di verona" base. … Read more Marble figure of the minotaur, 17th century baroque style, italy. Beige/grey marble. Minotaur on a rectangular "rosso di verona" base. H (without base) 81 cm. H (without base) 81 cm. With base: 102cm an almost identical marble figure was sold in our december 2010 auction (catalog no. 1008). The minotaur is a greek mythological figure with the head of a bull and the body of a man. The cretan king minos, a son of zeus, asked the sea god poseidon to grant him a miracle to consolidate his kingship and deter possible claimants to the throne. He was to let a white bull rise from the sea, which minos then promised to sacrifice. Poseidon granted his request and sent a magnificent bull. Minos, however, kept the bull for himself and sacrificed another animal. Poseidon enraged and cursed minos' wife pasiphae - she fell madly in love with the bull and had daedalus build a wooden cow frame and stretch a cowhide over it. When the artificial cow was ready, pasiphae crawled inside to unite with the white bull. From this union came minotaur, a fearsome figure with a human body and the head of a bull. King minos wanted to kill the monster, but his daughter ariadne begged him to let minotaur live. Minos granted her wish and ordered daedalus to build a labyrinth where minotaur was imprisoned. After a successful campaign against athens, the cretan king imposed a cruel tribute on the defeated: every seven years, seven athenian youths and seven athenian maidens had to be sent to crete and sacrificed to the minotaur. This terrible punishment only ended when theseus volunteered as tribute, traveled to crete and killed the minotaur. Sold at koller swiss auction 19th september 2013 lot 1298. This piece is attributed to the mentioned designer/maker. It has no attribution mark and no
official proof of authenticity,
however it is well documented in design history. I take full responsibility for any authenticity



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