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A marble sculpture, entitled 'Sappho' but formerly known to the RCAGM as 'Hope', by Baron Carlo Marochetti which was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1850 but did not appear in the catalogue. It was described by William Michael Rossetti in 'The Critic of Books, Engravings, Music and Decorative Art' (vol. 9, no. 224, 1.8.1850, p. 383), as follows 'The name of Baron Marochetti, well known we believe in Italian art, is here represented by a small statue of Sappho (no. 1297), of exquisite though peculiar character. The first impression of eccentricity will not be favourable: but manage to look beyond this, and there is a grace and charm in the work which will arrest not the eye merely, but the mind. Sappho sits in abject languor, her feet hanging over the rock, her hands left in her lap, where her harp has sunk; its strings have made music assuredly for the last time.
Title
Sappho (Hope)
Date
1850–1860
Medium
marble
Measurements
H 110 x W 35 x D 36 cm
Accession number
SC43 BORGM
Acquisition method
gift from Sir Merton Russell-Cotes, 1921
Work type
Statue