Interior Design

Peekaboo (part 10)

A bronze copy of the famous reclining Pauline Bonaparte
A bronze copy of the famous reclining Pauline Bonaparte

The original Pauline Bonaparte as Venus Victrix was commissioned by her husband Camillo Borghese and executed in Rome from 1805 and 1808 by the Italian sculptor Antonio Canova. This life-size semi-nude evokes the ancient Roman tradition of depicting a mortal individual as a god and was considered daring for those times in that a lady of high rank was portrayed in the nude. Even though I have seen numerous copies, I never knew their provenance until one found its way into my living room.