BRONZE SCULPTURE "PHRYNA BEFORE HER JUDGES" BY PIERRE-ETIENNE DANIEL CAMPAGNE

An important bronze sculpture with a nuanced brown patina depicting "Phryne before her judges" by Pierre-Etienne Daniel Campagne (1851-1910). Titled on a cartouche: "Phryne before her judges by Campagne (Sculptr)" and signed: "D. Campagne". Campagne worked primarily in Paris where he studied sculpture with Falguière. He participated for the first time in the Salon des Artistes Français in 1889. Phryne, a famous and wealthy courtesan, originally from Thespiae in Boeotia, probably settled in Athens after the destruction of her city by the Thebans in 371 BC. Accused of impiety, Hyperides, her lawyer, running out of arguments just as she was about to be condemned, removed the peplos draping Phryne, revealing all the splendors of her beauty and thus winning over the jury: the woman was acquitted and carried in triumph to the temple of Aphrodite. Famous for her beauty, she is said to have served as a model for Praxiteles, her lover, for the Aphrodite of Knidos. In the second half of the 19th century, Phryne fueled the imagination of French artists; Like Sappho and Aspasia, she perpetuates the classical tradition of illustrious and controversial women: she would be the subject of numerous paintings and sculptures, notably as a nude woman before the judges. Among the best known is "Phryne Before the Areopagus" (1861) by Jean-Léon Gérôme, housed at the Hamburg Kunsthalle. Late 19th century, circa 1890. Dimensions: W: 45cm, D: 26cm, H: 85cm.