A 19TH CENTURY ITALIAN GRAND TOUR BRONZE FIGURE OF ST PETER

A 19TH CENTURY ITALIAN GRAND TOUR BRONZE FIGURE OF ST PETER

the bronze a reduction of the figure from St Peter's Basilica, Rome, the figure holding a key in his left hand, blessing with his right, seated on a throne above a square plinth,

46cm high

The origin of the original bronze is not known, it has been suggested that it dates to the 5th or 6th century and that St. Leo, who was Pope from 440 to 461, had the statue of St. Peter made out of the bronze of the ancient Jupiter Capitolinus. Other scholars have attributed it to the 13th century sculptor Arnolfo di Cambio, who also created the tabernacle of St. Paul.