"The Triumph of Apollo over Python" as a pair. 2-piece, screwed. In the front, architectonic, articulated base with relief ornament friezes. Above rocky terrain, composed group of the three Roman Fates, the so-called Parzen. In the center, standing elevated, accompanied by a putto with a bundle of wool, Clotho, together with Lachesis sitting on the left, spinning the threads of human life. Standing on the right, Chronos, the god of time, restraining Atropos lying in front of him, to prevent her from cutting the thread. As a counterpart, the elevated Apollo, god of archery, standing in a proud pose. His left hand holding a bow, his right supported on his hip. Standing next to him, Minerva, goddess of wisdom and war, with a helmet, armor, and spear. The owl crouching at her feet as her attribute. Apollo stands with his left foot on an old man lying on the ground, personifying envy. Beside him, the prostrate Python, a mythological dragon that Apollo, according to legend, killed with an arrow. Above the group, a standing putto with a laurel wreath. Polychrome painting with rich gold staffage. Possibly by Johann Joachim Kaendler, 1774. Model numbers 32 and 33. Unidentified restoration; crossed swords mark. Height 37 cm - 38 cm. Width 34 cm - 35 cm. Variations based on models from the so-called "Great Russian Order" for Tsarina Catherine II of Russia, named Catherine the Great, for the furnishing of the Oranienbaum Palace. Created by M.V. Acier, Kaendler produced numerous groups of figures with mythological themes to honor Tsarina Catherine II and her political successes. See Pietzsch, Kat. Meissen for the Tsars, p. 105 with fig. 29 and no. 174; P. von Spee, Classicist Porcelain Sculpture (diss.), Bonn, 2004, cat. no. 104 and 105, p. 304f. A pair of large porcelain figure groups "Three Fates" and "Triumph of Apollo over Python" from the "Great Russian Order" for Tsarina Catherine II, so-called Catherine the Great. Two parts bolted. Insignificantly restored. Crossed swords mark. Meissen. 2nd half 19th century.