Bronze group “Bacchante at the Herma” from the collection of the Peterhof State Museum-Reserve: iconography, existence, restoration

Abstract

The collection of the Peterhof State Museum-Reserve contains a bronze group, “Bacchante at the Herma,” by an unknown French artist from the second half of the 19th century. The work is a life-size nude female figure leaning against a herma topped with a satyr’s head. This article examines issues related to the existence and characteristics of the complex restoration of this plastic work. The study determined that the iconography of this sculpture dates back to ancient examples and found analogues in Western European art from the 19th century, as well as proposing a classification for types of construction for similar Bacchic compositions. Through the study of archival documents, including unpublished ones stored in the Peterhof Museum-Reserve and the State Hermitage, it was possible to trace the provenance of this work in the twentieth century.

During the restoration work, conclusions were made about the design features of the sculpture. The nature of the casting defects, the complexity, height, and depth of the relief, as well as the quality of the finish, confirmed the restorers’ guess that the monument is a high-tech, one-piece cast product. It was discovered that the group had a displaced center of gravity and, given the weight of the sculpture, a thickness of the plinth walls that was too small, which led to a significant tilt of the entire composition. After eliminating the deformation of the plinth, specialists manufactured and installed a reinforcing structure and replaced the black metal fasteners with brass ones. During the restoration, the destroyed mastics were removed and replaced with new ones; the loss of the author’s patina was replenished, and a new conservation coating was applied that does not distort the author’s intent. The relevance of the work is due to the prospect of using the sculpture in an open storage exhibit in the Cavalier Building, located in the Upper Park of the Oranienbaum Palace and Park Ensemble.