Markus ANTOKOLSKI [Mark Matveyevich Antokolsky] (1840-1902), Mephisto

Bronze, chiseled casting; height 25 cm; width 19 cm.
Russia, ca. 1875; later casting.
Head of a man smiling diabolically, with pointed chin and small pinks visible above forehead between hair. Signature on the side: "ANTOKOLSKY".
Russian of Jewish origin; graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, supplemented his education in Rome and Paris, where he had a studio. He became famous for his monumental sculptures, including Ivan the Terrible and Peter I, as well as the dying Socrates. He also created Mephistopheles - in full form, naked, sitting on a rock, supported by entwined hands; a widely known sculpture - a bust - is, so to speak, a fragment of that work.