Marina Gurieva

Among the most beautiful sculptures in the section on Lorenzo Bartolini, is this full-length portrait of the Russian Countess Marina Dmitrievna Gureva. This is a plaster model from 1821 preparatory to marble carved in the same year, which is now kept in Russia at the Hermitage.
In a completely relaxed pose, the noblewoman sits on a rock with a slight twist of her head, as if she is focused on following an exciting narrative. Her dress is an Empire-style dress cut under the breast and down to the toes, richly draped, leaving her shoulders uncovered. The garment wraps around her young figure, emphasizing the soft, striking contours of her body. There is a polished pearl necklace adorning the neckline that enhances the appearance of the neckline. The hair is collected in a bun, with elegant ringlets on the forehead.
The 1.50 meter sculpture documents a period of great interest for the Prato artist, in which he resumed close study and work relations with his painter friend Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, whom he met twenty years earlier in Paris at the School of Jacques-Louis David. Ingres lived in Florence from 1820 to 1824, spending a considerable amount of time as the sculptor's guest. The two artists were committed to overcoming the neoclassical ideals of beauty, in order to present figures in a more vital and sensitive manner, as it can be seen in some of their works produced in close proximity. Among these are the portrait of Russian diplomat Count Nikolai Guriev that Ingres was commissioned to paint in 1820-21 (painting now in the Hermitage), and the portrait of his wife that was commissioned to Bartolini. On the rock where the Countess is seated, we can also see the dedication that reads: “Bartolini did and dedicated to his friend Ingres”.