André, Antoine, attributed

Antoine André, French sculptor under Louis XIV, (16? - after 1710). Since 1669 André was repeatedly in Carrara on behalf of Colbert to select marble for the King, which was intended for the ”embellishment of the Louvre and other royal palaces”.

For the period around 1700 over-life-size marble statues, based on the theme of antiquity are rather uncommon. But for the oeuvre of André over-life-size copies of antique sculptures seem to be characteristic. Comparabel examples, such as the Flora Farnese, signed, Antonius Andreas Anno 1676 ’, height: 215 cm, Tuileries / Louvre, or the marble statue of King Tiridates, 1684-87, height about 200 cm, in the park of Versailles, allow the attibution to Antoine André as the sculptor of this torso.

The thesis that this marble statue is probably the representation of a philosopher is confirmed by the attribute next to the right foot: a sealed box for important scrolls, ”scrinium” (lat.).