Two carved marble busts, both versos with illegible signatures inscribed "Prof. ?," both mounted atop a shaped marble base labeled "Simmons Collection" to anterior, the first depicting 'Beatrice' or Bice di Folco Portinari (Italian, 1265-1290), love inspiration and muse for Dante Alighieri's works La Vita Nuova and Divine Comedy; the second of 'Laura,' and most likely Laura de Noves (French, 1310–1348), love inspiration and muse for Francesco Petrarca's poems.

21 1/2 x 17 1/2 x 11 in. (Tallest sculpture including base)

Property of Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, sold to support art collections care

Dante's Beatrice was purchased by Dr. Thomas Jackson Simmons at the International Exposition in San Francisco in 1915, and remained on top of a revolving bookcase in his office in the Memorial Building. Twenty five years later when another bookcase was added, Dr. Simmons commissioned a Florentine sculptor to make a companion piece, Petrarch's Laura.


Scratches, scuffs, and surface stains to various areas; scattered chips and areas of loss, some with repair.

$800 - 1,200