Venus And Neptune - Christophe Gabriel Allegrain

The easy grace and flowing lines of this pair of statuettes distinguish them as works which could have been produced in no less sophisticated a period than the eighteenth century in France, although the figures have a statuesque quality reminiscent of the bronzes of the High Renaissance. These, however, are objects created purely for ornament and have not even the semi-useful function of the older work. They were made probably about 1740 or 1750, but reflect the stately tastes of the earlier Regency rather than the inconsequential lightness of the contemporary Rococo. Allegrain was the brother- in- law of Pigalle and highly regarded in his own day. Two marble statues from his hand are preserved in the Louvre.