After the Antique. Sleeping Ariadne. Large bronze with beautiful brown patina. Foundry mark BARBEDIENNE and mechanical reduction stamp of COLLAS. Height with base: 54 cm - Width: 66 cm - Depth: 26 cm History : Decorative sculpture based on the Antique in the Vatican. It is a reproduction (1/3 scale) of the marble sculpture in the Vatican Museum, made using the process of Achille Collas in association with the foundryman Ferdinand Barbedienne in 1838 (Stamp and signature on back, bottom). The original sculpture is housed in the statuary gallery of the Belvedere Palace. It is itself a Roman copy of a Greek original from the 2nd century BC. It was acquired by Pope Julius II in 1512. Another reproduction of this Belvedere marble (made by casting) was commissioned by Francis I from Le Primaticcio for the Château de Fontainebleau, where the bronze still stands. The story goes that Ariadne, wife of Dionysus, daughter of King Minos and granddaughter of Zeus and Europa, helped Theseus defeat the Minotaur and escape the labyrinth with his thread.