Diana of Versailles Bust — Artemis Goddess, Neoclassical Cast Bust on Socle, 8 Inches

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Decorative bust of Diana of Versailles (Artemis), after the famous Louvre antique. The goddess wears a crescent diadem in her … Read more Decorative bust of Diana of Versailles (Artemis), after the famous Louvre antique. The goddess wears a crescent diadem in her wavy hair, with her hair drawn into a bun, and a draped peplos, on a round socle pedestal. This is a cast bust with a matte ivory, stone-look finish. It is UNMARKED — no maker's mark anywhere — and no maker is claimed. Dimensions: 8 inches high x 5 inches wide. The original Diana of Versailles is a Roman marble copy of a lost Greek bronze of about 330 BC, sometimes attributed to Leochares, now in the Louvre; busts after it have been made for centuries as Grand Tour and neoclassical decor. Packed size for shipping: 12 x 9 x 9 inches, 4 lb. Buyer-paid calculated shipping.

About Diana — Diana is the Roman Artemis, goddess of the hunt and the moon; the crescent on her brow is the emblem of the moon goddess. This bust's type descends from the famed Diana of Versailles in the Louvre — a Roman marble copied from a lost Greek bronze by Leochares (c. 325 BC), showing the goddess mid-stride with a deer at her side. Found in Italy, the statue was given by Pope Paul IV to Henri II of France in 1556 — a gift with a wink, since the king's mistress was Diane de Poitiers. It stood at Fontainebleau among the first Roman antiquities displayed in France, and Louis XIV later placed it in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, which is where its name comes from. See less