Tempietto, Rome

antique marbles and alabaster
15″ h., ca. 1800

 

This impressively-sized, finely-crafted modello is assembled from a variety of antique, specimen marbles and alabaster available in Rome in the late 18th and early 19th centuries – material brought to Rome 2000 years ago, incorporated in the city’s buildings, then shattered and burned during successive sackings across 1100 years. The alabaster columns, for example, were originally quarried in Egypt, the rosso marble column bases and capitals in Greece, the giallo marble base in Tunisia. This model’s surpassing quality and materials relate it to the production of the most highly regarded Roman workshops, including that of Giuseppe Valadier.