During the Golden Age of classical dilettantism, the antiquities market was centred in Rome and extended to its numerous satellites.[2] As observed by Caylus, Winckelmann, Cavaceppi, Casanova, Dallaway, Ellis, Michaelis, and others, foreign interest - particularly among the English - had led to a notable division of labour within the arts by the close of the eighteenth century. Tens of thousands of artists were active in Rome, accompanied by a throng of dealers, agents, excavators, restorers, and other professionals, alongside traditional painters, printmakers, and sculptors. A singular yet emblematic institution of this period was the immense studio of the master restorer Bartolomeo Cavaceppi. A close associate of Winckelmann and the Visconti, Cavaceppi was also the protégé of Cardinal Alessandro Albani, a figure closely aligned with English patrons and often likened to Hadrian or Maecenas in his patronage of Roman art. Cavaceppi served as the teacher and mentor to Carlo Albacini and is thought to have been a primary supplier of casts for Albacini's collection, much of which is now housed in Edinburgh and which support the authorship.

To satisfy the burgeoning craze for antiquities, assertive art dealers and collectors in Rome not only initiated new excavations but also plundered old storehouses and collections. Their fervour spurred the large-scale and often imaginative augmentation of minor fragments, resulting in elaborate pastiches and outright forgeries. Additionally, sculptors and restorers continued to provide copies and casts (including busts), perpetuating a practice that had existed on a smaller scale since the Renaissance.

Cavaceppi's works are particularly relevant as background material for understanding the Albacini collection and the methodologies employed in handling ancient busts. These practices are preserved in casts and documented both in Cavaceppi's writings and in the works themselves. His three-volume catalogue of restored sculptures-Raccolta d'antiche statue, busti, bassirilievi...-lists pieces available for purchase alongside those already acquired (fig. 2).[3] Cavaceppi illustrates forty-six busts and herms, while his inventory records hundreds more, catalogued among antiquities, casts, sketches, and lists of previously sold items. Our bust is not published in the Raccolta, but is mentioned in the list compiled c 1839/1840 by Charles Heath Wilson, Master of the Trustees' Academy[4] and G. Davies' 1991 inventory numbers. "101. Aratus ⌈D10⌉".

Typically, both Cavaceppi's busts and those of his contemporaries were subjected to extensive refinishing. The use of chisels, wheels, acid, and pumice resulted in surfaces ranging from a soft, barochetto-style polish - evident in our bust - to the later neoclassical bisque finish, a practice Cavaceppi both criticised and perpetuated. His studio produced numerous copies of busts, often in thematic suites depicting favoured ancient rulers, philosophers, and poets. These busts were frequently cast in various materials, including bronze and terracotta and sculpted in marble; some embellished with notable antico inventiveness.

Cavaceppi introduced a new type of classical bust base that became a long-standing standard. This design innovatively adapted Antonine and Counter-Reformation precedents, adopting a lofty architectonic Attic-Ionic profile derived from the Erechtheion. This design was subsequently modified by Albacini and other sculptors of his era, who rendered the base lower and more robust in their restorations for the Farnese and Vatican collections. A transitional abacus-like block, connecting the bust to its pedestal, frequently bore an elaborate antico-scroll frame intended to house an identifying label. In the realm of Morellian morphological analysis, as previously noted, these ostensibly minor workshop details provide invaluable evidence in attributing works to Cavaceppi.

Cavaceppi possessed an unusually extensive collection of casts, some derived from his own sculptures and others produced with special permission from pieces held in the collections of other patrons. Among these were casts of the Dioscuri colossi on the Quirinal, which were greatly admired by Goethe and later acquired by Thorvaldsen. Such works and activities reflect not only personal preference but also cultivated favour and the demands of an eager market.

In addition to this, Cavaceppi maintained an extraordinary repository of over one hundred master moulds, enabling the production of bust and statue casts. This vast reserve was supplemented by several hundred further castings, originating both from these moulds and from other sources.

There are three known references to Cavaceppi's bust of Lysimachus, also frequently identified as Arato. The first is the plaster cast housed in the collection of the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh (fig. 3).[5] The second reference appears in Cavaceppi's list of casts: "101. Aratus ⌈D10⌉".[6] The third is found in a letter dated 6 June 1775 from Thomas Jenkins to Townley, which states:

"... I will not Conceal from You, and interesting event that has lately happend to me, last Year I had a Statue from Naples without a Head, with the Name of the Artist on the Trunk, I purchased a Head of Lysimachus from Cavaceppi thinking it might Suit it, and had the Joynings made, but the head proved too large. a few Weeks since a wonderful Head of an Achilles Came from the Same Quater, which Proves absolutely its own, and luckily altho the neck of the Statue had been touched to Joyn with the Lysimachus, it was so little, that it only wonts a little Stucco on one Part. the Right Arm which had been restored, must be done anew, as it does not Suit the Animated / Expression of the Head. am Sorry have not the Name of the Greek Artist that made this Statue with me here..." (fig. 4)[7]

The plaster cast in Edinburgh is essential for comparative analysis of the socles. As previously mentioned, Cavaceppi consistently employed a distinct model for his socles (figs. 5-8).

Of particular note is the Trajanic bust from the Wallmoden Collection (Hannover) (figs. 9-10), where the socle adheres to the same model. Significantly, the rear of the bust terminates within the 'platform' of the socle, a feature mirrored in the bust of Lysimachus under consideration. This characteristic is further observed in the Antonine bust from Newby Hall (Yorkshire) (figs. 11-12) and the bust of Emperor Titus from Stanwick Hall (Yorkshire), which was sold at Christie's New York on 28 October 2019 (figs. 13-14).

[1] I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to Dr Valeria Rotili for endorsing the authorship to Cavaceppi and for her invaluable assistance in verifying all the documentation used to substantiate this identification.

[2] What follows is a revised extract from: Seymour Howard, "Ancient Busts and the CAvaceppi and Albacini Casts", in: Journal of the History of Collections, 3, nr 2 (1991), p. 199-217.

[3] This image is a frontispiece for the Raccolta -publication. It shows the interior of Cavaceppi's workshop as it was when active.

[4] Scottish record office, Board of Manufactures Archives, N.G. 2/1/3).

[5] I would like to express my sincere appreciation to Aidan Weston-Lewis, Chief Curator of European Art at the National Galleries of Scotland, for kindly providing a photograph of the plaster bust and for his invaluable insights.

[6] Seymour Howard, "Ancient Busts and the Cavaceppi and Albacini Casts", in: Journal of the History of Collections, 3, nr 2 (1991), p. 199-217. Appendix B.

[7] TY 7/347.