Lot 413 Dα

This beautiful bronze is cast after the Roman marble sculpture that now stands in the Louvre, which in turn can be traced back to a Greek original attributed to the sculptor Leochares. In 1556, Pope Paul IV gave the Diana with the leaping roebuck as a gift to the French King Henri II, who had it placed in the garden of Fontainebleau Palace. It was not until the reign of Louis XIV that the sculpture came to Versailles. Bronze casts were made from the marble early on, the most famous being by Barthélemy Prieur (1536 - 1611) and Hubert Le Sueur (c. 1580 - 1658). The version shown here, probably attributable to a Northern Italian caster of the early 19th century, is perfectly presented on a plinth veneered with porphyry discs.