Explore the Recent history of this artwork, Meleager (L'Antico sculpture).
The sculpture was bought "on a hunch" by the art dealer Horace Baxter at "an obscure auction" in Kent for £16. He took the sculpture to the Victoria and Albert Museum, where it was immediately recognised by the curator and art historian John Pope-Hennessy as a major Renaissance work. Baxter sold the sculpture to the V&A Museum in 1960 for £4,000, a little under the then market value.The sculpture was featured in the second episode of the BBC series Secrets of the Museum, first shown in March 2020, which looked at behind-the-scenes work on the collections of the V&A Museum. It showed how it has to be kept under very strict environmental conditions as the bronze is suffering from bronze disease.
bronze Kent Secrets of the Museum Victoria and Albert Museum John Pope-Hennessy bronze disease