ARTS MINISTER PLACES TEMPORARY EXPORT BAR ON A ROMAN MARBLE STAT
7 Aug 2003 02:15 PM
Minister of State for the Arts, Estelle Morris, has placed a
temporary bar on the export of a Roman marble statue of Venus. It is
widely regarded as the most important of the ancient sculptures
acquired by William Weddell for Newby Hall in 1765. This will provide
a last chance to raise the money to keep the statue in the United
Kingdom.
The Minister's ruling follows a recommendation by the Reviewing
Committee on the Export of Works of Art that the export decision be
deferred. This reflects the close association of the sculpture with
Grand Tour collecting and its integral connection to the sculpture
gallery at Newby Hall, its outstanding significance for further study
of the workings of the antiquities market in the 18th century, and
its exceptional aesthetic importance.
The Committee have awarded a starred rating to this item, meaning
that every possible effort should be made to raise funds to retain it
in the country. The deferral will enable purchase offers to be made
at the following agreed fair market price:
A Roman marble statue of Venus, known both as the "Jenkins" and
"Barberini" Venus, deferred at the recommended price of just over
£ 8,053,800 (including VAT) until after 7 October 2003. The deferral
period could be extended until after 7 April 2004 if there is a
serious intention to raise funds with a view to making an offer to
purchase.
Anyone interested in making an offer to purchase the sculpture should
contact the owner's agent through:
The Secretary
The Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
2-4 Cockspur Street
London SW1Y 5DH
NOTES TO EDITORS
Pictures of these items can be downloaded free of charge from our
site on PA Picselect.
Please go to the DCMS folder situated within the Arts section of
Picselect either at www.papicselect.com or through the PA bulletin
board.
The statue is of Parian marble and stands 1.63 in height on its
pedestal. It is of the goddess Venus, standing naked, with a support
next to her left leg in the form of an alabastron with a flat shell
on top and entwined with a heavily laden vine in which two tiny
Erotes play as a third collects apples into a basket at the foot of
the vine. The goddess wears two arm bands; that on the right arm is
not ancient, but the one on the left arm is ancient and is decorated
with dolphins.
The Jenkins Venus is normally regarded as a copy of the so-called
Medici type (named after the celebrated example from the Medici which
has been in the Tribuna of the Uffizi since 1677). It would thus be a
Roman copy, dating from either the late first century or the first
half of the second century AD, of a Hellenistic type, probably
created in the second century BC. The general pose and scale of the
statue fit the Medici type, but the arrangement of the hair over the
shoulders is unparalleled and suggests a slight variation on the
normal type.
William Weddell inherited Newby Hall on his father's death in 1762.
In 1764, he set off on a Grand Tour, in the company of the Rev.
William Palgrave. He already had clear notions as to how he wished to
improve the house. In Rome, where he arrived at the end of December,
he began purchasing marbles for his intended Sculpture Gallery.
Palgrave wrote that "Weddell is buying such a quantity of pictures,
marbles etc as will astonish the West Riding of Yorkshire". His
preferred dealer was Thomas Jenkins (1722-1798), who wrote in 1765
that Weddell had purchased "the greatest part of the Paintings and
Sculpture that I had." In March of 1765 Weddell had 7 cases of
marbles exported from Rome, in April a further 12 and in May some 86
paintings and the Jenkins Venus, a sobriquet first attached by J.J.
Winckelmann.
The Jenkins Venus is a composite statue and has undergone extensive
restorations. Its story begins in 1738, when it is recorded in an
inventory of the Barberini collection as "una statua al naturale
rappresentante una Venere nuda con tronco a'piedi, con diversi putti
di bassi rilievi, uva e frutti." The "marrying" of the torso with the
left leg, support and fragment of the plinth must, therefore, have
been done before it was acquired by Gavin Hamilton (1723-1798) in
1763 for 300 scudi (c. ,65). Further restoration work was then
carried out, either by Pietro Pacili or by Bartolomeo Cavaceppi, or
by both. The head, which is clearly alien, had been, according to
Joseph Nollekens, a portrait of Agrippina which had a veil trimmed
away by the restorer, who also trimmed the neck to fit the torso. The
right leg and arms may well have been added at this point too. The
sculpture, when perfectly completed, was finally exhibited by Jenkins
in 1764 with no information as to its origins other than a claim that
it had been found intact.
Weddell was shown the sculpture in the spring of 1765 and persuaded
to buy it for a sum which is reported as being anywhere between 1000
and 6000 guineas. It was exported from Rome with a "lettera di passo"
of the Papal Chancellor dated 17th May 1765, with a detailed
declaration to Customs concerning the recent restorations and the
valuation that appeared in the Barberini accounts, all in order to
reduce the export fees. Papal permission had only been obtained
because of "the fortunate circumstance of its being a naked female",
as Jenkins records, and the rumour promulgated by him that the
purchaser was the King of England.
Weddell returned to Newby Hall in the summer of 1765. He then
employed Robert Adam to prepare the scheme for the interior of the
sculpture gallery. The result was a beautiful triple-roomed gallery,
a square room on either side of a central domed rotunda, all richly
decorated with delicate plasterwork, providing an extraordinary
setting for the Venus, along with Weddell's other classical
sculptures.
The recommended price at which the application to export the statue
is deferred is £ 8,053,813.75 (including VAT).
Public Enquiries: 020 7211 6200
Internet: http://www.culture.gov.uk
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
2-4 Cockspur Street
London SW1Y 5DH
www.culture.gov.uk