Giuseppe Franchi. Bust of Ariadne

This marble bust of Ariadne was carved in 1781 by the Italian sculptor Giuseppe Franchi. In Greek myth Ariadne, daughter of King Minos of Crete, helped the Athenian Theseus escape from the labyrinth of the Minotaur.

Franchi (1731–1806) studied ancient art in Rome under Johann Joachim Winckelmann and from 1776 taught at the Brera Academy in Milan. Most of the sculpture at Arkhangelskoye was collected by Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov, who began the collection in the 1770s. In choosing works he relied on personal acquaintance with leading masters, among them Jean-Antoine Houdon, Antonio Canova, Carlo Albacini and Franchi himself, and on the help of antique dealers acting as intermediaries.

The museum also holds a second bust by Franchi from the same year, the Apollo Belvedere. The marble Ariadne measures 73 × 37 × 38 cm.