SEATED FAUN WITH SYRINX

Andrea Riccio, born Andrea Briosco in Padua circa 1470, was a formative figure in the early development of Italian bronzes. Riccio is known for his smaller works, such as the present lot which is also known in three related casts. All four casts were included in the important exhibition devoted to Riccio at The Frick Collection, New York, in 2008/2009, which permitted a close comparison of the bronzes. While all four are possibly derived from an antique marble, the prime bronze version is the cast that sits in the Musée du Louvre, Paris (inv. OA 6311). Discussions which took place at the time of the exhibition suggested that the Quentin cast was qualitatively closest to and probably derived from the Louvre example, while an example in The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, is similar to the Quentin cast but probably slightly later in date. The fourth bronze, in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, was thought to be an even later and inferior cast. Compositionally, the Baltimore bronze is closest to the Quentin example while the other casts differ slightly in arrangement – the Louvre example lacks the syrinx entirely – and the Ashmolean model is devised as an inkstand with a bowl. The Quentin bronze is notable for its naturalism in pose, a quality for which Riccio is highly celebrated, and for the finely worked and hammered surface.

The subject of the present bronze is derived from Ovid’s Metamorphosis and recalls the story of Pan, who pursued the nymph Syrinx. Not willing to succumb to Pan’s amorous pursuit, at her request Syrinx was transformed into reeds to hide at the edge of the river Ladon. However Pan cut the reeds to form the pipes which he plays in the composition offered here.