Lot Essay
Research into the life and career of Barthélémy Prieur (1536-1611) is ongoing, but a growing body of small bronzes, formerly attributed to unknown masters, is now being given to Prieur and his immediate circle. Among these bronzes, many are of peasants and animals, which accounts for the fact that one of the names formerly given to the unknown author of these bronzes was the 'Master of the Genre Figures'.
The present bronze is known in at least two other examples, one of which is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, while the other is in the Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Brunswick. The latter is known from documentary evidence to have been in the ducal collection from at least 1787, but had probably already entered the collection by 1753 (Braunschweig, loc. cit.).
The attribution to Prieur's circle is based on numerous similarities to documented works. Among these, it is worth noting that the present bronze displays the same mannered pose, and delight in the illogical but rhythmic patterns of drapery as can be seen in the large bronze figures of Peace, Abundance and Justice on the monument for the heart of Anne de Montmorency, executed after 1573 (illustrated in Musée du Louvre, op. cit., figs. 239-242) . The hound, seated at the goddess's feet also has a parallel in Prieur's oeuvre: in 1602, Prieur was commissioned to create a fountain for the park of Fontainebleau, which included a central figure of Diana, around which were positioned four bronze stags' heads and four seated hounds (Masterpieces from the Louvre, op. cit., p. 18, pl. 20).
Interestingly, it was also Prieur's task to supervise the restoration and removal of the antique marble original which the fountain was to replace, and the new bronze version cast by Prieur is thought to be the earliest replica of the group now known as Diane Chasseresse (Haskell and Penny, loc. cit.). If one compares the present small bronze to the antique marble, there are numerous similarities in both the costume and the disposition of the limbs, the most notable difference being that Diana's right forearm is placed across her chest in the bronze as opposed to being raised to reach for her quiver. When one considers the iconography, the artistic treatment, and the inclusion of the hound, it is tempting to suggest that the original model for the present bronze dates from around the time of the creation of the fountain at Fontainebleau, when both these motifs would have been uppermost in the minds of Prieur and his circle.
The present bronze is known in at least two other examples, one of which is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, while the other is in the Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Brunswick. The latter is known from documentary evidence to have been in the ducal collection from at least 1787, but had probably already entered the collection by 1753 (Braunschweig, loc. cit.).
The attribution to Prieur's circle is based on numerous similarities to documented works. Among these, it is worth noting that the present bronze displays the same mannered pose, and delight in the illogical but rhythmic patterns of drapery as can be seen in the large bronze figures of Peace, Abundance and Justice on the monument for the heart of Anne de Montmorency, executed after 1573 (illustrated in Musée du Louvre, op. cit., figs. 239-242) . The hound, seated at the goddess's feet also has a parallel in Prieur's oeuvre: in 1602, Prieur was commissioned to create a fountain for the park of Fontainebleau, which included a central figure of Diana, around which were positioned four bronze stags' heads and four seated hounds (Masterpieces from the Louvre, op. cit., p. 18, pl. 20).
Interestingly, it was also Prieur's task to supervise the restoration and removal of the antique marble original which the fountain was to replace, and the new bronze version cast by Prieur is thought to be the earliest replica of the group now known as Diane Chasseresse (Haskell and Penny, loc. cit.). If one compares the present small bronze to the antique marble, there are numerous similarities in both the costume and the disposition of the limbs, the most notable difference being that Diana's right forearm is placed across her chest in the bronze as opposed to being raised to reach for her quiver. When one considers the iconography, the artistic treatment, and the inclusion of the hound, it is tempting to suggest that the original model for the present bronze dates from around the time of the creation of the fountain at Fontainebleau, when both these motifs would have been uppermost in the minds of Prieur and his circle.