Albacini’s style centres on close observation of antique originals, and fullyembodies the rigorously antiquarian aesthetic of Neoclassicism, an approachcertainly informed by his activity as a restorer of ancient statues. In this field,conversely to his master Cavaceppi, Albacini showed a propensity to integratingantiquities to the highest finish, restoring them to what he deemed was theiroriginal splendour. The present artist, whose Marcus Aurelius does full justice tothe ancient bronze and who shows extensive knowledge of ancient statuary andiconography, no doubt belonged to Albacini’s circle in Rome.An interesting point of reference for our Marcus Aurelius is a marble model ofthe same subject, of comparable dimensions, now in Slane Castle, County Meath,Ireland. Virtually the only other large-scale Marcus Aurelius in marble known today,it offers an indication of the type of setting such sculptures would have beenintended for, although the Italian inscription on our base suggests it was intendedfor the grand residence of an Italian patron, possibly a Roman patrician.related literatureF. Haskell and N. Penny, Taste and the Antique: The Lure of Classical Sculpture 1500–1900,New Haven and London, 1981, pp. 252–55S. Howard, ‘Ancient Busts and the Cavaceppi and Albacini casts’, Journal of the History ofCollections, III, no. 2, January 1991, pp. 199–217V. Coltman, Classical Sculpture and the Culture of Collecting in Britain since 1760, Oxford, 2009,pp. 85–87
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