![\"\"](\"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/2.42588002.jpg\")
A bust made by one of Ireland\u2019s greatest sculptors is to go to auction in New York.<\/p>\nA bust made by one of Ireland\u2019s greatest sculptors is to go to auction in New York.<\/p>\n
The bust of Pope Clement XIV by Christopher Hewetson, one of the most celebrated 18th century sculptors, will be offered for sale on May 1 by Christie\u2019s auctioneers.<\/p>\n
The work is estimated to fetch up to $180,000 at auction.<\/p>\n
Hewetson was born in Co Kilkenny in 1739 and worked in Dublin until he moved to Rome in his twenties, where he remained until his death in 1798.<\/p>\n
In Rome, he became a sought-after portraitist and in 1781 was commissioned to make a portrait in marble of Pope Clement XIV.<\/p>\n
Pope Clement XIV was a well-known collector of antiquities \u2013 and had founded the Museo Pio Clementino in 1771 originally to display antique and renaissance sculpture.<\/p>\n
He was an astounding portraitist and was commissioned to make a portrait in marble of Pope Clement XIV, this is one of the finest known versions<\/p>\n
Hewetson, with his deep knowledge of ancient Greek and Roman busts, combined with a talent for humanising his sitters, was an appealing choice for the pope.<\/p>\n
The bust became his most celebrated commission.<\/p>\n
It was so famous that Hewetson sculpted at least five other marble versions as well as one plaster one.<\/p>\n
The first documented bust is dated 1771 and the final piece is dated 1782, eight years after Pope Clement XIV had died.<\/p>\n
The version due to be auctioned appears to be unrecorded and is \u2013 besides the Gorhambury version \u2013 the only bust outside of a museum collection.<\/p>\n
Christie\u2019s said part of the charm of this bust are the luxuriously carved details of the pope\u2019s fur-lined camauro and robe, one \u201cforgotten\u201d button and the embroidery and bravura detail of the tied cord at the center of his chest.<\/p>\n
Milo Dickinson, head of sculpture at Christie\u2019s London, said: \u201cChristopher Hewetson is Ireland\u2019s greatest 18th century sculptor.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was an astounding portraitist and was commissioned to make a portrait in marble of Pope Clement XIV, this is one of the finest known versions.\u201d<\/p>\n