A RARE BRONZE STATUETTE OF THE FLYING MERCURY

Property from the Estate of JOSEPHINE BENNETT

Details

A RARE BRONZE STATUETTE OF THE FLYING MERCURY
CAST BY ANTONIO SUSINI FROM A MODEL BY GIAMBOLOGNA, FLORENTINE, LATE 16TH CENTURY

The Messenger of the Gods balancing on tip-toe over a spurt of wind puffed vertically by the putto head of a wind-god below, on an integrally cast circular base, brazed on to an Italian 16th century circular bronze ink pot (the whole secured by a modern retaining screw running vertically: repaired at the joint of Mercury's foot and the spurt of wind) ---- 13in. (33cm.) high

Provenance

Sir Harold and Lady Anastasia Wernher, Luton Hoo, Bedfordshire, England

Literature

C. Avery and A. Radcliffe, Giambologna Sculptor to the Medici, Art Council of Great Britain, exhibition catalogue, London, 1978, no. 35
C. Avery, Giambologna: the Complete Sculpture, Oxford/New York, 1987, p.261, cat. no. 72

Lot Essay

This is an unpublished cast (on a reduced scale) of the celebrated second, revised composition of the Flying Mercury (22 7/16in. [57cm.] high) that was produced by Giambologna himself for Ottavio Farnese, Duke of Parma, in 1579 (Naples, Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte, inv. no. 10784).

The facture and brilliantly refined treatment of surface and detail on this statuette point to the goldsmith Antonio Susini, Giambologna's principal collaborator in producing bronzes, as its likely executant. Susini produced another of Giambologna's compositions, the standing Bathing Venus (Avery and Radcliffe, no. 1) at a different scale, that time considerably enlarged (Avery and Radcliffe, nos. 2, 4), while he oversaw the serial production of Crucifixes from Giambologna's models, in various sizes.

A similar Mercury, but with a completely different putto head and no spurt of wind, from the Untermyer Collection, is in the Metropolitan Museum (1974.28.145)