ARISTIDE LOUIS FONTANA (ITALIAN, FL. LATE 19TH CENTURY)
REBECCA
£17,010
Auction: Lots 329 - 512 | 14 November 2024 at 10am
Description
white statuary marble, signed Aristide Fontana Sc. and CARRARA
Dimensions
Rebecca 82.5cm high; column 96cm high
Footnote
Note: Aristide Fontana was the son of the Italian sculptor Fernando Fontana and was known for his romantic classical style, often inspired by Canova. In February 1871 he married Emma Bowkett, daughter of a surgeon, when he was living in Pimlico, London. By the end of that year he was living in Carrara, Tuscany, where his son Cesare was born in December 1871. 1881 census records show that the family were living once again in London and Fontana exhibited at the Royal Academy four times between 1881-1885, showing six works in total: 1881 ‘The Pensierosa’; 1882, ‘Miss Ellen Terry, bust, marble’; ‘The Pensierosa, bust, marble’; and ‘The Allegra; marble’.
The subject of the present lot is taken from the Old Testament story of Rebecca, told in Genesis 24-27. Old Testament figures, and heroines in particular, were popular subjects of artworks in the mid-19th century. The story relates how Abraham who wanted his son Isaac to find a good wife, sent his servant Eliezer to find a suitable bride in his homeland of Aram Naharaim. Eliezer stopped by a well where he prayed that one of the women who came to draw water would offer him and his camels a drink. If this act of kindness and generosity occurred, he would take it as a sign from God that the considerate woman would be a suitable candidate to become Isaac's wife. Rebecca appeared at the well and offered to draw water for Eliezer and his camels, as he had hoped, and he presented her with gifts in thanks. She was married to Isaac and subsequently became the mother of Jacob and Esau.
In works of art Rebecca is typically depicted with a pitcher by a well, and was a popular subject for painters and sculptors. A comparable pair of marble figures of Ruth and Rebecca by Fontana sold Christie's New York, 24 April 2003, lot 342.