Lot Essay
Small-scale bronzes such as the present lot were in high demand among Europe’s art-collecting elite in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Models created by the workshop of Giambologna were such status symbols that they were deemed suitable as diplomatic gifts given by Florence’s powerful Medici family to foreign rulers. For example, a group of Giambologna bronzes was presented to Henry, Prince of Wales in 1612 by Grand Duke Cosimo II. When the Tuscan ambassador, Andrea Cioli, who had supervised the gift suggested that the Pacing Horse could be suited to Henry’s 11-year-old brother the Duke of York (the future Charles I), Henry replied ‘no, no, I want everything for myself’ (Watson and Avery, op. cit. p. 501). Bronzes also played an integral role in a Kunstkammer or Cabinet of Curiosities. These collections, hugely popular in the late Renaissance, were a combination of natural and man-made works displayed together for the purpose of study but also as a display of social status. In such an environment the bronzes would have been handled and admired close-up so that their viewer could marvel at their technical prowess. Some of the most celebrated collections include those of Rudolf II in Prague and Augustus the Strong in Dresden, both of which included casts of the Pacing Horse.
Several documentary sources survive referencing Giambologna working on the composition of a horse but the earliest of these dates to 1563 in which the artist describes having shown his great patron, Francesco de Medici, a model of a horse in black wax (Wengraf, op. cit. p. 126.). Of all the ingenious compositions conceived by Giambologna, the pacing horse was particularly popular, and the surviving references suggest his workshop produced a number, often in tandem with a model of a pacing bull. Its composition demonstrates the influence of ancient Roman sculpture, in particular, the Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius that the artist would have been able to see in Rome. Surviving examples of Giambologna’s Pacing Horse model tend to have minor variations (such as the inclusion of a saddle cloth and bridle) but can typically be sorted into two groups, those with flowing manes or those with clipped manes (see Wengraf, op. cit. pp. 134-135 for further discussion).
In order to benefit from the market demand for his works, Giambologna trained assistants within his workshop who could create casts after their master’s models closely emulating his style and ability. Among these assistants, Antonio Susini is known to have trained in Giambologna’s workshop between circa 1580 and 1600 and specialised in preparing moulds of Giambologna’s models for casting and finishing these statuettes when cast (Avery, 1978, op. cit., p. 157). After 1600 he left to work independently, becoming successful in his own right. He continued to cast bronzes from models by his former master in addition to designing his own original compositions. Even after he set up on his own, Susini’s style remained very close to that of Giambologna meaning that it is not always easy to distinguish between the sculptures of the assistant and those of the master as their works are both stylistically and compositionally intertwined. Additional important assistants include Susini’s nephew Gianfrancesco and Pietro Tacca both of whom received their early training with Giambologna and went on to continue using his models after his death.
It is among the works of this next generation of sculptors that the present lot can be situated. Previously unpublished and offered at auction for the first time in over 60 years its jewel-like quality and delicate details are indicative of a sculptor from the cohort directly following Giambologna who built upon their early training to become celebrated artists in their own right.
A NOTE ON THE PROVENANCE
This lot has in recent decades formed part of the choice collection assembled by the Bentley family, whose collecting lineage finds its roots in the esteemed Bloch-Bauer family. Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer (1864-1945) and his wife, Adele (1881-1925), were leading patrons of the arts in Vienna at the turn of the twentieth century. The couple formed close relationships with the composers and conductors Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) and Richard Strauss (1864-1949) and, most famously, the painter Gustav Klimt (1862-1918), for whom Adele sat for two full-length portraits. In 2006, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, completed between 1903 and 1907, achieved a then world record price for a work of art when, following its restitution, the painting was sold by Ferdinand’s niece, Maria Altmann, for $135 million. Later that year, a then world auction record for the artist was established when the Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II (1912) was sold at Christie's on 8 November 2006 for nearly $88 million.
Several documentary sources survive referencing Giambologna working on the composition of a horse but the earliest of these dates to 1563 in which the artist describes having shown his great patron, Francesco de Medici, a model of a horse in black wax (Wengraf, op. cit. p. 126.). Of all the ingenious compositions conceived by Giambologna, the pacing horse was particularly popular, and the surviving references suggest his workshop produced a number, often in tandem with a model of a pacing bull. Its composition demonstrates the influence of ancient Roman sculpture, in particular, the Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius that the artist would have been able to see in Rome. Surviving examples of Giambologna’s Pacing Horse model tend to have minor variations (such as the inclusion of a saddle cloth and bridle) but can typically be sorted into two groups, those with flowing manes or those with clipped manes (see Wengraf, op. cit. pp. 134-135 for further discussion).
In order to benefit from the market demand for his works, Giambologna trained assistants within his workshop who could create casts after their master’s models closely emulating his style and ability. Among these assistants, Antonio Susini is known to have trained in Giambologna’s workshop between circa 1580 and 1600 and specialised in preparing moulds of Giambologna’s models for casting and finishing these statuettes when cast (Avery, 1978, op. cit., p. 157). After 1600 he left to work independently, becoming successful in his own right. He continued to cast bronzes from models by his former master in addition to designing his own original compositions. Even after he set up on his own, Susini’s style remained very close to that of Giambologna meaning that it is not always easy to distinguish between the sculptures of the assistant and those of the master as their works are both stylistically and compositionally intertwined. Additional important assistants include Susini’s nephew Gianfrancesco and Pietro Tacca both of whom received their early training with Giambologna and went on to continue using his models after his death.
It is among the works of this next generation of sculptors that the present lot can be situated. Previously unpublished and offered at auction for the first time in over 60 years its jewel-like quality and delicate details are indicative of a sculptor from the cohort directly following Giambologna who built upon their early training to become celebrated artists in their own right.
A NOTE ON THE PROVENANCE
This lot has in recent decades formed part of the choice collection assembled by the Bentley family, whose collecting lineage finds its roots in the esteemed Bloch-Bauer family. Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer (1864-1945) and his wife, Adele (1881-1925), were leading patrons of the arts in Vienna at the turn of the twentieth century. The couple formed close relationships with the composers and conductors Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) and Richard Strauss (1864-1949) and, most famously, the painter Gustav Klimt (1862-1918), for whom Adele sat for two full-length portraits. In 2006, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, completed between 1903 and 1907, achieved a then world record price for a work of art when, following its restitution, the painting was sold by Ferdinand’s niece, Maria Altmann, for $135 million. Later that year, a then world auction record for the artist was established when the Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II (1912) was sold at Christie's on 8 November 2006 for nearly $88 million.