NORTH ITALIAN, CIRCA 1500

Details

A BRONZE PACING HORSE
NORTH ITALIAN, CIRCA 1500
with his head turned slightly to the right, his tail raised; on a later rectangular portor marble plinth
9 in. (23 cm.) high, the bronze; 10 3⁄8 in. (26 cm.) high; 10 3⁄8 in. (26 cm.) wide, overall

Provenance

Christie's, London, 8 December 1981, lot 243,
Acquired from the above by the Blaquier-Arrieta Family.

Literature

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
W. Bode, Die Italienischen Bildwerke der Renaissance und des Barock: Zweiter Band, Bonzestatuetten, Berlin, 1930, p. 14, no. 58, pl. 23.
W. Stedman Sheard, Antiquity in the Renaissance, Smith College Museum of Art, exh. cat., Massechusets, April 6–June 6, 1978, no. 4.
V. Krahn, ed., Von Allen Seiten Schön – Bronzen der Renaissance und des Barock, exh. cat., Berlin, 1995, no. 30, pp. 202-203.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Charlotte Young Associate Director, Specialist

cyoung@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2730

Lot Essay

The present bronze model of a pacing horse traces its artistic lineage back to antiquity, but reveals its origins as a creation of the Italian renaissance. Seemingly known in only one cast, it is notable for the quality of the casting process, which faithfully reproduces the delicately modelled details of the head, mane and tail from the original wax model. Comparison to an ink drawing interpreting the bronze equestrian group of Marcus Aurelius in Giovanni Marcanova’s Antiquitates of 1465 (illustrated in Stedman Sheard, loc. cit.) shows a similar fascination with the lively, wavy tail, and individually curling strands of the mane. Among bronzes, there are stylistic similarities to works by artists such as the Paduan sculptor Andrea Riccio (1470-1532). The horse from his renowned work The Shouting Horseman (ca. 1510-1515, see Krahn, loc. cit.), displays the same elongated body, long head, and carefully delineated mane and tail.

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