Apotheosis of Sculpture

Apotheosis of Sculpture is probably a preliminary sketch or record of a large-scale painting (untraced) executed for a royal residence in or around Naples. The strong influence of Solimena suggests that it was painted prior to 1741 when de Mura left Naples for Turin. Based on Cesare Ripa's influential emblem book, the "Iconologia", the Ponce painting shows Sculpture, a beautiful young woman at the lower left holding a maul and chisel. Included in the panoply of symbolic figures and imagery are Time being vanquished by Fame, a laurel wreath atop a curved stone memorial, and Aurora (Dawn) riding across the sky in her chariot followed by Apollo, god of the sun and protector of the arts. This complex visual and iconographic vocabulary delivers a message in tune with the royal family's grand artistic ambitions -namely that it is a patron's works, and not the patron, that will ensure his fame and endure forever.