ITALIAN, PROBABLY FLORENTINE, SECOND HALF 16TH CENTURY

Details

A BRONZE FIGURE OF ADAM
ITALIAN, PROBABLY FLORENTINE, SECOND HALF 16TH CENTURY
Depicted nude and standing in an exaggerated contrapposto; on an integrally cast naturalistic base, later circular plinth and associated tripartite base supported by three cherubim above scrolls; the underside with further acanthus decoration and inscribed in red with the inventory number '217'; blackish brown patina with medium brown high points
7¼ in. (18.4 cm.) high; 10 in. (25.4 cm.) high, overall

Provenance

Purchased by Alfred Beit (1853-1906) by 1904.
Thence by descent to Lady (Clementine) Beit (1915-2005) by whom donated to the Alfred Beit Foundation in 2005.

Literature

W. Bode, The Art Collection of Mr. Alfred Beit at His Residence 26 Park Lane London, Berlin, 1904, as 'Benvenuto Cellini'.
W. Bode, Catalogue of the Collection of Pictures and Bronzes in the Possession of Mr. Otto Beit, London, 1913, p. 108, no. 217, as 'Benevenuto Cellini'.
W. Bode, The Italian Bronze Statuettes of the Renaissance, ed. and rev. by J. Draper, New York, 1980, pp. 101 an 110, pls. CXLVIII and CCLVII.

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

This bronze figure appears to be unique. It was described as 'Adam' and attributed by Bode to Benvenuto Cellini when he realised that it was almost certainly the pendant figure to a bronze figure of Eve (now unlocated) which he had recently attributed to the same artist (Bode, 1980, loc. cit.). The figure of Eve is related to two other female figures, each from an allegorical group of Virtue overcoming Vice illustrated by Bode on the same page.

No attribution for the composition of Virtue overcoming Vice has gained widespread acceptance and there are insufficient similarities with the work of Cellini to maintain an attribution to him. The strongly contrapposto pose, especially of the Adam, would suggest a Florentine origin; the tripartite base is Venetian, and may originally have been an inkwell.

The Adam is very delicately modelled in the wax, with almost no chiselling of the surface at all. In fact, it even appears that the bronze remained partially unfinished as the founder has failed to remove the bronze struts between each of the index fingers and thumbs. These struts would originally have been put in place to reinforce a very fragile element of the figure when coming out of the mould.

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