Anatolij Demidoff

Lorenzo Bartolini (1777-1850)
1840, White marble

Anatolij Nikolaevič Demidov (1812-1870), Prince of San Donato from 1840 onwards, was an industrialist and patron of the arts and a prestigious patron of Lorenzo Bartolini. He is portrayed here in the mythologizing heroic bust of classical tradition. The bust was created around 1840, on the occasion of Demidoff's wedding to Matilde Bonaparte Monfort, niece of Napoleon I. Its features are strongly realistic, and the artist has found a balance between heroic idealisation and a naturalistic depiction of the subject’s physiognomy.