185. Groupe napolitain en biscuit, Real Fabbrica Ferdinandea, représentant Niobe et sa plus jeune fille, circa 1780 A Naples, Real Fabbrica Ferdinandea biscuit group depicting Niobe with her younger daughter, circa 1780 Modelled by Filippo Tagliolini, after the Antique, Niobe leaning towards her kneeling daughter, raising her right hand holding her draperies, 30cm high, (minor restoration) Provenance Italian Private Collection Literature A. Caròla-Perrotti, Le porcellane dei Borbone di Napoli, Capodimonte e Real Fabbrica Ferdinandea 1743-1806, 1986, cat.no. 440 Exhibited Naples, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, 'Le Porcellane dei Borbone di Napoli: Capodimonte e Real Fabbrica Ferdinandea 1743-1806', 19 December 1986-30 April 1987 At the beginning of 1583, thirteen sculptures were found in the vineyard belonging to Gabriele and Tomaso Tommasini, located a short distance from San Giovanni in Laterano in Rome. The discovery, already sensational in itself considering the number of marbles found, was perceived as even more singular since almost every statue appeared to be part of a grandiose group illustrating one of the most tragic stories of ancient myth: the murder of Niobe's children. Niobe, wife of Amphion, the king of Thebes, had insulted Latona, claiming that she was a better mother than her. She was severely punished by the goddess, who sent her sons Apollo and Artemis to kill Niobe's seven sons and seven daughters. Despite being turned into a stone, Niobe, torn by grief, couldn't stop weeping and her tears became an everlasting fountain. From the end of the 16th century, the Niobids and the central large figure of Niobe protecting her younger daughter were preserved in the gardens of Villa Medici before being removed to Florence in 1770 at the behest of Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1765-1790, who had them placed in a dedicated space in the Uffizi where they remain to this day.