Lot 111: LUIGI BIENAIMÉ ITALIAN, 1795-1878

signed and dated: L. BIENAIMÉ / F. / 1833

white marble

106cm., 41 3/4 in.

Purchased from the artist by Conrad Hinrich Donner (d.1854);
By descent to his grandson Conrad Hinrich III von Donner (d.1911);
By descent to his daughter-in-law Agnes Baroness von Donner;
By descent to her granddaughter Angelika von Donner (1960); to the present owner (1992)

This is one of just two marble versions of L'Amor Divino known to exist. The other is in the cappella della S. Sindone in Turin Cathedral, while the plaster model is in the NY Carlsberg Glyptotek (inv.no. I.N.621). The present work is of historic interest as it formed part of the group of sculptures formerly arranged in the Museumspavillon Donner (dest.1942) where it accompanied Thorvaldsen's masterpiece The Three Graces, purchased by the Thorvaldsen Museum from Donner's descendants in 1952. The same museum contains a plaster bust of Donner by Thorvaldsen (1840). L'Amor Divino is just visible in the profile view of the pavillions main Octagon, a design by the architect Gottfried Semper (see illustration, second from left).

Bienaimé, who had won a scholarship from the Accademia di Carrara, became Thorvaldsen's chief assistant and from 1819 managed his studio with Tenerani and Freund. He was a sculptor of international repute whose studio at piazza Barberini 5 was visited by the Czar in 1845. The Hermitage has at least five of his works and many others were commissioned by German patrons such as the King of Württemburg, Prince Oldenburg and Graf Dietrichstein. Nonetheless it is interesting to note that Bienaimé was the only Italian sculptor from whom Donner made purchases, the others being the Dane, Hermann Wilhelm Bissen and the German, Adolph Moritz Jahn.

The angel depicted in L'Amor Divino, also known as Angelo dalle braccia incrociate sul petto, is a reworking of the figure of the young child in Bienaimé's large 155cm group of Angelo Custode e fanciullo of 1831. The plaster L'Amor Divino in the Carlsberg Glyptotek is dated 1832 and the present work 1833, thus providing a clear sequence for its development and refinement.

Conrad Hinrich Donner was a financier, statesman and art collector who founded the Hamburg-based Donner Bank in 1798.

RELATED LITERATURE
J.Ziesemer, 'Der Donnersche Museums-Pavillon in Neumühlen bei Altona' in Nordelbingen 65, Heide 1996, pp77-97; J.B.Hartmann, La Triade Italiana del Thorvaldsen, pp.106-7; Friborg 1997, p.52; Kunstlerleben in Rom pp.674-5; Panzetta p.48