456. A pair of bronze groups depicting a dog attacking a deer Atelier Francesco Righetti (1749-1819), signed and dated F. RIGHETTI.F.ROMAE.1816 and on a red marble and slate base A pair of two bronze groups of a hunting dog attacking a deer, workshop of Francesco Righetti (1749-1819), dated 1816 Each standing on a rectangular bronze base signed and dated F. RIGHETTI.F.ROMAE.1816 and on a red marble and slate stepped plinth, 27.5cm wide, 21.5cm high (10 1/2in wide, 8in high) The Roman sculptor Francesco Righetti was trained in the workshop of the silversmith and bronzier Luigi Valadier, where he was most likely employed in the modelling and casting of bronzes. Very gifted, Righetti quickly became a successor to his teacher, and in 1779 he opened his own studio in via della Purificazione. He then produced mainly very well cast replicas of notorious ancient statues responding to the high demand of Grand Tour tourists visiting Rome. It was in 1781 that Righetti received his first known large-scale commission, for twelve full-sized lead casts of famous statues for the English banker Henry Hope at his country house at Welgelegen, near Haarlem.