Emile Herbert

Pierre-Eugene-Emile Hebert (French, 1828-1893) Semiramis signed and inscribed 'SEMIRAMIS' and 'EMILE.HEBERT' (on thebase) Bronze with brown patina height: 15½ in. (39.3 cm.) Lot Notes Semiramis was a legendary Assyrian Queen, famed for her beauty,strength, wisdom, and alluring power. Abandoned by her mother thefish-goddess Atargatis, she was miraculously preserved by doves,who nourished her until she was found by Simmas, the royalshepherd. She later married Onnes, one of the generals of Ninus. Atthe battle of Bactra, Ninus was so filled with admiration for thecourage and skill Semiramis displayed, he resolved to have her ashis wife and queen. He offered to give Onnes his own daughterSosana in exchange for Semiramis but Onnes refused. Ninus thenthreatened to destroy Onnes by gouging his eyes out, whereupon infear, despair and agony, he surrendered to his kings demand andcommited suicide. Ninus then took Semiramis as his queen, and theyproduced a son, Ninyas. After the death of Ninus, she succeeded tothe throne as Queen. According to the legends, Semiramis reignedfor forty-two years then abdicated in favor of her son, Ninyas, andvanished. Legends flourished throughout the ages that she tookflight towards heaven in the form of a dove. Semiramis also appears frequently in later literature. She is seenin the first book of La Divina Commedia, Inferno, where Dante findsher among the souls of the lustful in the second circle of Hell.Semiramis also appears in a number of plays and operas, mostnotably Voltaire's tragedy Semiramis, Domenico Cimarosa's operaSemiramide and Gioacchino Rossini's opera, also calledSemiramide.

PIERRE EUGENE EMILE HEBERT(1828-1893) A bronze figure of the goddess 'Thetis', signed to the base, 143/4" high

A BRONZE FIGURE OF THETIS AFTER EMILE HEBERT, LATE 19TH CENTURY, CAST BY SERVANT, PARIS The gilt bronze base inscribed 'THETIS' and 'EMILE HEBERT' further to the reverse 'GS/MEDAILLE D'OR/1867' 12in. (30.5cm.) high Lot Notes View Lot Condition Report The Paris based bronzier Servant exhibited at the 1867 Exposition and a description of his display is discussed in both Jules Mesnard's, 'Les Merveilles de l'Exposition de 1867', Paris, 1867, pp. 167-168, and 'The Art Journal Catalogue of the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1867', London, 1867, p. 20.