A builder who bought a junkyard statue for £300 is set to scoop a five figure payout after it emerged the antique was a hidden masterpiece.
The anonymous buyer picked up a battered statue that the Wiltshire yard’s owners had dismissed as a worthless lump of concrete, having sourced it from a country house near Andover in Hampshire.
After purchasing the piece, the builder realised it was actually carved from marble, and far older than anyone had suspected.
Experts have since confirmed the 26-inch figure to be a 290-year-old Italian Baroque maquette depicting Pope Clement XII Corsini, dating from around 1736.
The sculpture has been consigned to Salisbury auctioneers Woolley & Wallis, who have placed a pre-sale estimate of £10,000 on the lot.
However, significant interest from international buyers means the piece could fetch as much as £100,000 when it goes under the hammer next week.
Its creator, Pietro Bracci, was among the most celebrated sculptors working in Rome during the 18th century.
He is best remembered for carving the imposing figure of Oceanus, the centrepiece of the city’s world-famous Trevi Fountain.
The statue is set to go under the hammer
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WOOLLEY AND WALLACE
Bracci produced the small marble model as a preparatory study for a full-scale bronze portrait of Pope Clement XII, which was installed in the Great Hall of the Palazzo Nuovo on Rome’s Capitoline Hill.
That monumental bronze was commissioned in 1736 and paid for by the Roman Senate.
The original statue met an inglorious end, however, being melted down in 1798 during the upheaval of the First Republic.
Before this maquette surfaced, the only known visual record of the lost bronze was an engraving by Stefano and Rocco Pozzi.
The artefact is the sole surviving of its kind, making it incredibly rare
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WOOLLEY AND WALLACE
Research by Woolley & Wallis suggests the marble figure is the sole surviving maquette, making it an exceptionally rare artefact.
Mark Yuan Richards, the furniture specialist at Woolley & Wallis who carried out the research, described the find as “an exceptionally exciting discovery.”
He added:: “Bracci was one of the great sculptors of eighteenth-century Rome, and this extraordinary survivor offers a tangible connection to the world of the papal court and the artistic splendour of the period.”
Of the seller, Mr Yuan Richards said: “The vendor is not a professional antiques dealer but he has got an eye for it. He had a feeling it was good, but he didn’t know it was signed or how important it was.”
Pope Clement XII commissioned the Trevi Fountain
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GETTYThe statue’s worn appearance reflects what is thought to be roughly half a century spent outdoors in a garden. “It’s not in perfect condition but it’s pretty much unique,” Mr Yuan Richards noted.
Precisely how the piece ended up in Hampshire remains a mystery. “It might have been gifted to a Brit on a Grand Tour in the 18th century or a diplomatic gift for someone who knew the pope,” he speculated.
Bracci’s career in Rome was long and distinguished, with his patrons including Popes Benedict XIII and XIV, for whom he crafted both portraits and tombs.
He also designed a striking memorial to Maria Clementina Sobieski, wife of James Stuart, which stands in Saint Peter’s Basilica.
Some of the memorials in St Peter’s Basilica were designed by Bracci
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GETTYPope Clement XII, who reigned from 1730 to 1740, was responsible for restoring the Vatican’s finances and launching an ambitious programme of cultural and architectural renewal.
His legacy includes commissioning the Trevi Fountain, overseeing a new façade for San Giovanni in Laterano, and bolstering the significance of the Capitoline Hill.
The bronze portrait was created to mark the pope’s generous donation to the Capitoline Museums, following an earlier marble likeness Bracci had completed for the city of Ravenna.
The sculpture goes under the hammer on October 8 as part of Woolley & Wallis’s Fine Furniture and Collections sale.