Key Takeaways
-
A sharp-eyed builder rescued a rare 18th-century marble statue from an English salvage yard for just $400.
-
The 27-inch sculpture is a signed model by Pietro Bracci, the famed Italian artist who worked on Rome's Trevi Fountain.
-
Created in the 1730s to depict Pope Clement XII, the surviving marble piece is now estimated to fetch up to $13,300 at auction.
A rare 18th-century papal treasure found among garden cast-offs
In a remarkable stroke of luck, a builder with a keen eye for antiquities recently stumbled upon an 18th-century masterpiece sitting among mundane garden ornaments in a reclamation yard in Wiltshire, England. Purchased for a mere 300 British pounds—roughly $400—the 27-inch marble statue turned out to be the lost work of renowned Italian sculptor Pietro Bracci, best known for his central figures on Rome’s iconic Trevi Fountain.
The intricate marble piece is a presentation maquette created in the 1730s. Bracci used the signed model to pitch a giant bronze sculpture of Pope Clement XII, which was commissioned by the Roman Senate to honor the pope’s generous contributions to the Capitoline Museums. While the resulting full-sized bronze was tragically melted down for scrap metal some sixty years later, Bracci’s original marble model quietly survived the centuries.
Historians believe the prized maquette was shipped to a country estate in England long ago. Eventually falling out of favor, it was moved outdoors to serve as a common garden ornament before ending up among hundreds of architectural cast-offs in the salvage yard. Art specialists and auctioneers are celebrating the find as an exceptionally exciting discovery that offers a tangible connection to the artistic splendor of eighteenth-century Rome, estimating its value to be between $6,600 and $13,300.
