Bronze statue of the goddess Isis lactans and Horus Harpocrates
→ Francesco Righetti
Bronze statue of the goddess Isis lactans and Horus Arpocrate (baby Horus), by Francesco Righetti (1749 – 1819). This bronze sculpture is a full-size copy of the granite sculpture now preserved in the Gregorian Museum, Vatican Museums.
The original work may have come from the excavations at Hadrian's Villa and is one of a number of Roman works in Egyptian style that decorated residences with areas dedicated to the cult of Isis or that followed the fashion for Egyptomania.
The chiselling and the quality of the patina highlight the skill of Francesco Righetti, an outstanding bronze artist who trained in the workshop of Luigi Valadier.
The work on display follows the style of bronzes forged in the late 18th and early 19th centuries for travellers on the Grand Tour who, having visited Rome and Naples in particular, wanted to return home with souvenirs skilfully copied from ancient works.
