Lot 88: BERTEL THORWALDSEN (DANISH, 1770-1844) AND LUIGI BIENAIME (ITALIAN, 1795-1878)

W.J. LYSLEY AND CAROLINE LYSLEY, A PAIR OF BUSTS Each inscribed with the name of the sitter, dated and signed Roma 1829 A. Thorwaldsen. L. Bienaime F. White marble, on socles 73 cm (28 1/2 in) (2) Provenance: Baldwin-Wallace College, Berea, Ohio, 1907 William John Lysley (1792-1873), the only son of William Lysley (d.1792), became a barrister in 1825. In 1829 he married and went on the Grand Tour with his bride. He was made sheriff of Hertfordshire in 1851 and the Member of Parliament for Chippenham eight years later. A Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, he died at St. Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex. While visiting Rome, William Lysley commissioned portraits of himself and his wife from Thorvaldsen's highly respected studio. The studios of the leading sculptors in Rome were large, traditional workshops. In addition to the numerous routine carvers, technicians and aspiring students, the Master relied on a few established sculptors to assist in the important final stages of a commission and to take charge of the practical management of the workforce. Thorvaldsen was aided in this capacity by three sculptors: Pietro Tenerani, Pietro Galli and Luigi Bienaime. Bienaime went to Rome in 1818 on a scholarship from the Accademia di Belle Arti in Carrara. He immediately entered Thorvaldsen's studio where his technical competence and total adherence to his master's style took him to the top of the studio hierarchy within nine years. Bienaime worked for Thorvaldsen for two decades. After the Danish sculptor's death in 1844, he inherited the unfinished commissions and the running of the workshop. From 1820 Bienaime executed sculptures in his own right, with St John the Baptist, (1820, Metropolitan Museum, New York) The Guardian Angel and Innocence amongst his best known works. Bienaime's busts of Mr and Mrs Lysley show that by 1829 Thorvaldsen was entrusting him with entire commissions and allowing their names to stand side by side. Thorvaldsen made over 178 busts and it is clear that he found this task increasingly onorous. "Again and again we find him complaining that his busts occupied too much of his time and took him away from what he considered his proper task, namely to create statues and reliefs. As he gradually became financially independent of the orders for portraits, he declined many, and from the 1820's, the period of his greatest monuments, the number of portrait busts he made dwindled rapidly.' (E. Kai Sass, op.cit.) Comparison of Bienaime's busts of the Lysleys with Thorvaldsen's busts of John Campbell, Lord and Lady Glenorchy of the same period, illustrates how closely the former has adhered to his master's style. Indeed Bienaime, perhaps with more time and enthusiasm, has made the bust of Mrs Lysley more elaborate than is common in Thorvaldsen's manner. Comparative Literature: E. Kai Sass, Thorvaldsens Portraetbuster, vol. III, p.7 Copenhagen, 1965 J.B. Hartmann, "La Triade Italiana del Thorvaldsen, alcune considerazioni su temi mitologici e cristiani", Antologia di Belle Arti, Nuova Serie NN.34-24, 1984, pp90-115.