A BRONZE FIGURE OF THE BELVEDERE ANTINOUS
Lot 19THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN 

A BRONZE FIGURE OF THE BELVEDERE ANTINOUS

AFTER THE ANTIQUE, ATTRIBUTED TO PIETRO DA BARGA, CIRCA 1574-1588

Closed5 December 2013

Price Realised

GBP 50,000

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A BRONZE FIGURE OF THE BELVEDERE ANTINOUS
AFTER THE ANTIQUE, ATTRIBUTED TO PIETRO DA BARGA, CIRCA 1574-1588
On an integrally cast oval plinth and a later rectangular moulded serpentine base
10¾ in. (27.3 cm.) high; 16¼ in. (41.2 cm.) high, overall

Specialist note

Pietro da Barga was employed by Cardinal Ferdinando de Medici (later Ferdinando I, Grand Duke of Tuscany) to create small-scale bronze copies of sculptures unobtainable in the original. Another version of the present model in the Bargello Museum is believed to be one of a series of bronzes by da Barga cast for Ferdinando between 1574 and 1588, a number of which are listed in the Medici Inventario di guardaro (de Nicola, loc. cit.).

The wonderful waxy surface and beautiful modelling of the hands and feet of the present version are of comparable quality to the Bargello bronze, as well as a gilded Hercules Farnese by da Barga in the Metropolitan Museum, New York (accession no. 64.101.1462).