Bust of Apollo in marbre - Veneto, End of the 17th-early18th century

The son of Jupiter and Leto, and twin brother of Diana, the god Apollo is depicted wearing a laurel wreath and an antique-style drape held in place by a cord revealing his left shoulder. An idealised young man par excellence, Apollo retains in iconographic tradition the youthful, radiant character of the Greek god, embodying the ideal beauty associated with the sun and harmony.

The bust, which is fairly modest in size, smaller than life-size, was originally intended to form part of an ensemble with one or more busts on a mythological theme. At the turn of the eighteenth century, the aristocratic courts of northern Italy embraced all the formal characteristics of the period.   The knot on the chest was a formula found in Venice in particular, used by the great names Orazio Marinali (1643-1720), Giovanni Bonazza (1656-1736) and Enrico Meringo (1638-1723). The full, youthful face, with its delicate features and fleshy mouth, also belongs to the Venetian tradition, as can be seen, for example, in the bust of the Young Laureate Man by Giusto le Court (1627-1679) in the Kunsthistorishes Museum in Vienna. 

On a technical level, the careful polishing of the marble and the material effects on the hair and drapery provide a fine example of the art of the decorative and secular bust from a Venetian palace. 
Finally, the style and typology of our Apollo are comparable to the bust that appeared on the Art Market in 2010 (Sotheby's 7 September).