Italian school of the XVIII century.

Italian school of the XVIII century.
"Aeneas and Anchises".
Alabaster carving.
Wooden base.
Measurements: 23 cm. height (sculpture); 30 cm. (height with the base).

This sculptural couple represents the flight of Aeneas, hero of the Trojan War, and his father Anchises after the fall of the native city. According to Virgil, father and son arrived in Latium, where he would become king and the progenitor of the Roman people. The author may have been inspired by previous models from the Baroque period, a time when great artists such as Gian Lorenzo Bernini and François Girardon treated the subject. In Bernini's marble, a third figure, the son of Aeneas, accompanies them. In this alabaster carving, Aeneas is stripped of his heroic aura by being shown as a noble figure, bearing the weight of the father, whose face also expresses defeat and weariness. Aeneas' anatomy is shown dwarfed, and his back is bent under the weight, so that his torso does not present a stocky modeling. On the contrary, an extreme verism reproduces the physical effort he makes. However, the skirt he wears, Roman pteruges type, announces who will be the spiritual father of Rome. Anchises, who had been a descendant of the Trojan royal house, is now presented to us completely naked except for the turban. He subjugates us by the deep humanity he conveys with his helpless and bony body. His bearded face, with sunken cheeks, contributes to offer us a touching image. Aeneas holds the left arm of the progenitor with his right hand, squeezing the fingers with great love.