Leseprobe

151 Suicide of Cato and Suicide of Porcia François Duquesnoy (follower) Brussels 1597–1643 Livorno c. 1700 Bronze; 67×32.5×30.5 cm and 70.3×26.7×26.8 cm Purchased in Paris in 1715 Inv. nos. H4 155/29 and Hase1 14/59 The Roman senator Marcus Porcius Cato (95–46 BC), who to avoid confusion with his grandfather and namesake is called either Cato the Younger or Cato Uticensis, (a reference to Utica, where he committed suicide), was considered the epitome of moral integrity and ancient Roman virtue, on account of his discipline, willpower, and incorruptibility. A defender of the Roman Republic until its very end, he was one of Caesar’s most significant adversaries. When Caesar won the civil war, Cato committed suicide, preferring death to a possible pardon by the tyrant. According to Plutarch, Cato’s daughter Porcia took her own life by swallowing burning coals after the death of her husband Brutus, who had a hand in Caesar’s assassination. This legend was devised to cast her as an ideal wife and worthy daughter of Cato. During the Renaissance, small bronzes were kept in intimate studiolos – small rooms, dedicated to reading, studying, and writing – where collectors would go to admire and hold them. But during the Baroque period they became a status symbol and were accordingly placed among other decorative elements in stately reception rooms. The statuettes were now larger, and because contemporary in- terior design emphasized symmetry, artists often created pendants. It is unclear who made these two bronzes. Baron Leplat, art agent to Augustus the Strong, purchased them in Paris, which is why one believes that they are the work of a yet unidentified French follower of Duquesnoy.  |  ckg