Cast of one side of a base of one of the six candelabra from Sant' Agnese fuori le Mura, Rome

From: Vatican Museums (Vatican City)

RA Collection: Art

The cast shows one of the six pendant candelabra which were displayed already in the middle of the seventeenth century in the church of S. Agnese fouri le mura, Rome. All six candelabra were said to have been found in an excavation near the church. All but one (which had found its way into the Borghese collection) were restored by Lorenzo Cardelli on commission from Pope Clement XIV in 1772. This brought them into the public eye, and casts were made after the restoration. The Royal Academy has casts of two (this and inv. 05/831) which were taken to the Vatican and had a cast also of the one that returned to S. Agnese. All were similarly decorated with figures of winged Erotes whose lower legs turned into elegant scrolling designs.

The cast was acquired by the Royal Academy from Thomas Lawrence whose collection was sold on 10 May 1830. It was acquired not only with the casts of two other examples from the same group but also with c. six other candelabra. The candelabra were in general appealing because of their size, architecture, and relief elements.