Francesco Antonio Franzoni (Italian, 1734–1818) | Taurean

Project Description

Description: Marble, 38 cm high x 41 cm wide
Catalogue note: Born in the marble city of Carrara and trained there, Francesco Antonio Franzoni settled in Rome in the 1760s and established a workshop that specialised in the restoration of antique Roman sculpture. He worked on restoring, completing and refinishing sculptures destined for the Museo Pio-Clementino and provided marble revetments and sculptural details for its interiors, notably the biga (two-horse chariot) assembled in 1788 from antique elements, in the sala del Biga of the Braccio Nuovo. He worked for Pope Pius VI, for whom he filled a room with animal sculptures, some made up from antique fragments, in the Palazzetto del Belvedere; he also worked for the papal family at Palazzo Braschi. He died in Rome in 1818.
Provenance: Acquired from Christie’s, Sale 16032, Lot 93, Invoice no. DB18002956
Catalogue no.: 2018S0048-FAF