451 - Pair of Minotaur figures – Italian School, Baroque style – 17th century

Pair of Minotaur figures – Italian School, Baroque style – 17th century A pair of 17th-century Italian Baroque sculptures of the Minotaur, carved from beige and gray marble, on rectangular bases of Rosso di Verona marble. Each figure represents the Minotaur, a creature from Greek mythology with the head of a bull and the body of a man. According to the mythological tale, the Cretan king Minos, son of Zeus, asked Poseidon, god of the sea, for a miracle to consolidate his reign and deter potential suitors for the throne, promising to sacrifice the white bull that would emerge from the waters. Poseidon agreed and sent a magnificent bull, but Minos decided to keep it and sacrifice another animal instead. Enraged, Poseidon caused Pasiphaë, Minos's wife, to fall in love with the bull. Pasiphaë then commissioned Daedalus to build a wooden structure in the shape of a cow, covered with a real hide, inside which she entered to unite with the animal. From this union was born the Minotaur, a creature with the body of a man and the head of a bull. Minos wanted to kill him, but his daughter Ariadne begged him to spare his life, so he ordered Daedalus to build a labyrinth to imprison him. After a victorious campaign against Athens, Minos imposed on the vanquished the tribute of sending seven Athenian youths and seven maidens every seven years to be sacrificed to the monster. This punishment ended when Theseus volunteered as tribute, traveled to Crete, and killed the Minotaur. According to the original registry information, an almost identical marble figure was sold at auction in December 2010, catalog number 1008. There is also a reference to a sale at the Swiss auction house Koller, held on September 19, 2013. Height without base: 81 cm; total height with base: 102 cm.