ID 895488
Lot 1434 | Pendule Au Bélisaire
Estimate value
€ 2 000 – 3 000
France.
Date: End of 19th century.
Technique: Bronze, partly patinated or fire-gilded.
Description: High rectangular base, on the front relief with war trophies. Beside the postament-shaped case with helmet and laurel wreath stands Belisar, dressed in simple robes. Holding a walking staff in his right hand and carrying a boy on his left arm.
Roman numerals and Arabic minute track. French pendulum movement with hook escapement and pendulum with thread suspension as well as lock disc striking mechanism. Half and full hour strike on a bell.
Measurement: 57x38x14,5cm.
Mark: Work designated Pickard 1894.
(P).
The rare depiction of this Empire Pendulum shows an episode of the legend that developed around the historical person of the Roman Flavius Bellisarius. The general won important victories in various battles under Emperor Justinian and went on to have a great and widely respected military career. Due to several disputes with the emperor, he was temporarily placed under house arrest, but was later fully rehabilitated. The epic written after his death, in which the once great general would have died blinded and impoverished in Rome, was carried on and received over the coming centuries. In France, the legend of Belisar was very popular at the end of the 18th century and became widely known through the tragedy "Bélisaire" by Jean-François Marmontel, published in 1767.
The pendulum shows the disgraced commander Belisar with a boy on his shoulder who has just been bitten by a snake still coiled around his ankle. This depiction goes back to a famous painting by François Gérarde, which is now considered lost. It was exhibited at the Salon of 1795 and later reproduced in print.
| Auction house category: | Clocks and Watches |
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| Auction house category: | Clocks and Watches |
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| Address of auction |
VAN HAM Kunstauktionen GmbH Hitzelerstr. 2 50968 Köln Germany | ||||||||||||||
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