A BRONZE GROUP OF NESSUS AND DEIANIRA
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A BRONZE GROUP OF NESSUS AND DEIANIRA

CAST AFTER THE MODEL BY GIAMBOLOGNA OR ANTONIO SUSINI, 17TH CENTURY

Details
A BRONZE GROUP OF NESSUS AND DEIANIRA
CAST AFTER THE MODEL BY GIAMBOLOGNA OR ANTONIO SUSINI, 17TH CENTURY
Nessus depicted rearing while the struggling Deianira arches over his back; on an integral octagonal bronze plinth and modern octagonal ebonised wood base
17 in. (43.2 cm.) high; 23¾ in. (60.2 cm.) high, overall
Provenance
Traditionally, said to have been a gift from the Kurfürst Max Emanuel of Bavaria (1662-1726) to his mistress, Agnes Françoise de Louchier, and thence by descent.
Literature
H. R. Weihrauch, Europäische Bronzestatuetten 15.-18. Jahrhundert, Brunswick, 1967, pp. 220-221, fig. 261.

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
J. G. Mann, Wallace Collection Catalogues: Sculpture, London, 1931, no. S 117, pl. 33.
P. Volk, 'Bronze- und Bleiplastik am Hof Max Emanuels', in Kurfürst Max Emanuel - Bayern und Europa um 1700, I, Munich, 1976.
Edinburgh, London and Vienna, Royal Scottish Museum, Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum, Giambologna (1529-1608) Sculptor to the Medici, 19 August 1978 - 28 January 1979, no. 66, pp. 109-117.
C. Avery, Giambologna - The Complete Sculpture, Oxford, 1987, p. 264, no. 93.
A. Radcliffe and N. Penny, The Robert H. Smith Collection - Art of the Renaissance Bronze 1500-1650, London, 2004, no. 26, pp. 164-171.
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

The story of Nessus and Deianira records the denouement of Hercules' long and eventful life. Deianira, the wife of Hercules, was abducted by the centaur Nessus when he offered to ferry her across a river. Hercules slew Nessus but the latter, in his dying moments, tricked Deianira into administering a fatal potion to her husband. Hercules donned a shirt which had been sprinkled with the potion and it ate into his flesh with a mysterious fire that killed him. He was later raised to the status of god and and joined the other gods and goddesses on Mount Olympus.

The theme of this abduction was taken up by Giambologna (1529-1608), court sculptor to the Medici Grand Dukes of Tuscany. The first interpretation, referred to by scholars as 'type A', shows Deianira seated on Nessus' back. The present composition, a variant of 'type B', is a development of Giambologna's original; here Deianira raises herself up on her foot, attempting to spring from the grasp of the centaur in an altogether more energetic and baroque arrangement.

This second composition of the theme has long been associated with Antonio Susini, the most trusted assistant of Giambologna, and when the present bronze was included in Weihrauch's Europäische Bronzestatuetten (loc. cit.) it was given to Susini's own hand. However, in the catalogue of the Smith collection (loc. cit.), Anthony Radcliffe argues that the invention is actually Giambologna's own, although possibly cast again later by Susini after he had left his master's workshop.

At least two other casts which include the integral column of drapery supporting the underside of the centaur are known to exist, an inferior gilt version in the Wallace Collection, London, and a cast which was included in the sale of works of art from the collection of the Margraves of Baden (Sotheby's, Baden-Baden, 5-21 October 1995, II, lot 333, approximately £193,000 hammer). It is difficult to know if the present cast originates from the Susini workshops in Italy or from a northern foundry. There appear to be traces of a reddish gold lacquer - a typical attribute of the Florentine foundries - in the recesses of the present bronze. However, it is worth noting that this cast is extremely close to the cast sold at Baden-Baden, although the latter was finished in a more typically Germanic way, with all of the fur of the centaur's pelt indicated with chisel marks. In either case, the dynamism of the original conception is apparent here, with the arched back of the centaur and the writhing pose of the unfortunate Deianira.

The bronze is further enhanced by an illustrious provenance. By tradition, it entered the family collection through Agnes Françoise de Louchier who was a mistress first of Louis XIV and later of Max Emanuel of Bavaria. Max Emanuel was a noted collector in his day; he made important purchases in the field of old master pictures as well as bronzes (for an article on Max Emanuel's bronze collecting see Peter Volk, loc. cit.). He bestowed numerous gifts upon his mistress of property, jewels and art. It is believed that the present bronze was among those gifts, and that when Agnes Françoise later married an ancestor of the vendor, she brought this piece with her to the marriage.

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