850 - Bust of Sappho, signed “Galleux,” France, 19th century.

Bust of Sappho, signed “Galleux,” France, 19th century. Carved white marble. Dimensions: 172 × 40 × 26 cm. A classically inspired female bust depicting Sappho, the celebrated poetess of ancient Greece. The figure is depicted with her head slightly tilted and crowned with laurel leaves—an attribute traditionally associated with poetry and literary glory—while her hair is arranged in an elaborate coiffure topped by a high bun. Her Greco-Roman-inspired drapery falls across the torso in broad, deeply carved folds, fastened at the shoulder with a circular fibula. The delicacy of the facial features, the careful carving of the hair, and the meticulous rendering of the drapery reflect the historicist and Neoclassical aesthetic characteristic of 19th-century European sculpture. The composition combines classical idealization with ornamental richness, giving the figure an elegant and monumental presence. Signed “Galleux.” Condition: generally good, with signs of age consistent with the period.