Capitoline Flora

Object belonging

One's own

Category

Terracotta sculpture

City

Rome

Location

Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia

Specific location

Terracotta store

Inventory

PV 13259

Material and technique

Terracotta

Author

Bartolomeo Cavaceppi (1717-1799)

Dating

Second half of 18th century

Dimensions

112x44.4x34 cm.

Origin

Cavaceppi Collection (1799); Torlonia Collection (last quarter of 19th century); Gorga Collection (1948)

Image copyright

SSPSAE e per il Polo Museale della città di Roma

Short description

The sculpture known as Capitoline Flora was discovered in Villa Adriana, in the Cento Camerelle (One Hundred Rooms), following excavation by Liborio Michilli that began in 1739. In 1744 the owner gave it to Pope Benedict XIV as a gift, who installed it in the Sala del Galata in the Capitoline Museum. The marble was restored by Carlo Monaldi, who re-sculpted the crown, the right hand and the left, which holds flowers. Cavaceppi’s terracotta is a liberal interpretation of the classical model, with the right hand placed in a different position to Monaldi’s restored statue, and even the original head has been replaced with a portrait of Faustina the Younger. There are numerous small crosses that would have served to help the artist’s assistants when translating the model into marble. 

Cristiano Giometti 

Bibliography

M. G. Barberini and C. Gasparri (eds.), Bartolomeo Cavaceppi: scultore romano (1717-1799), exh. cat., Roma 1994, p 111, no. 25; C. Brook - V. Curzi (eds.), Roma e l'Antico. Realtà e visione nel '700, exh. cat., Roma 2010, p. 421.