Laurent Delvaux (Ghent, 1696 - 1778, Nivelles), circa 1765-1775 Venus Bust in white marble Signed L. DELVAUX, numbered 4 on the back; standing on a turquoise marble pedestal H: 57 cm (22 ½ in). Total height: 70 cm (27 ½ in.) Provenance: Early 19th century in the collections of the Barons of Anethan, Overschie Castle (Brabant) ; By descent to the current owner. Comparative bibliographies : A. Jacobs, Laurent Delvaux 1696-1778, Paris, 1999. M. Beeldhouwer, Lucas Faydherbe 1617-1697, Mechelen, 1997. A white marble figure of Venus by Laurent Delvaux (Ghent, 1696 - 1778, Nivelles), circa 1765-1775 Along with his pupil Gilles-Lambert Godecharle, Laurent Delvaux (1696-1778) is the Flemish sculptor who best embodies the spirit of the 18th century. He was one of the leading Flemish sculptors of his time. to leave his native country in search of English patronage. He arrived in London in 1717, aged 21, and soon won commissions for funerary monuments at Westminster Abbey. The 1720s were prosperous, and he worked actively alone or in collaboration with Peter Scheemakers the Younger (Antwerp 1691-1781), an expatriate for important English art lovers and collectors such as Lord Castlemaine, the Earl of Rockingham, Sir Andrew Fountaine and finally the 4th Duke of Bedford at Woburn Abbey, where the most important private collection of sculptures by Delvaux is now kept. Thanks to Sir Andrew Fountaine's recommendation to the powerful Cardinal Lorenzo Corsini, who would ascend to the pontifical throne in July 1730 as Clement XII, Delvaux had little difficulty entering the Roman artistic milieu. When he arrived in Rome in 1728, he was already an established artist, a sculptor who had fully mastered his art. Delvaux stayed in Rome for four years, from 1728 to 1732, staying at the Palazzo Zuccari in Via Gregoriana, now the home of the Bibliotheca Hertziana (Max-Planck-Institut). In 1733, he was appointed sculptor to the court of Brussels, training many sculptors and creating the famous Hercules for the Royal Palace in Brussels between 1768 and 1770. Our bust on the back is numbered 4, probably indicating that it was part of a group of busts representing the divinities Minerva, Juno, Ceres and Venus. Stylistically, it can be compared with the late works representing the four ethical virtues (Bravery, Humanity, Politics and Religion) designed for the façade of the Summer Apartments and the entrance hemicycle of the Palace of Charles-Alexandre de Lorraine in Brussels between 1765 and 1766 and the sculpture La Magnanimité (Jacobs, op. cit, p. 425 and 431-436). There are similarities in the face, with its prominent nose, large incised eyes and elaborate hairstyle, with a bust of Omphale from around 1675-1680 by the Flemish sculptor Lucas Faydherbe (Beeldhouwer, op. cit., no. 61, p. 189). Alain Jacobs confirms that the bust is a late work by Delvaux. It is also interesting to note the mention in the artist's catalogue raisonné of the presence of unlocated busts offered in the workshop sale of Delvaux and Scheemakers in London in 1728 (Jacobs, op. cit., p. 502, nos. SM 92-93).