A FLORENTINE BRONZE FIGURE OF A SLEEPING NYMPH, attributed to Ferdinando Tacca, the nymph lying on a rocky mound, over her discarded drapery, her head thrown back and supported on her left arm (kneeling satyr missing from behind; on rouge mottled socle), mid 17th Century

Details
A FLORENTINE BRONZE FIGURE OF A SLEEPING NYMPH, attributed to Ferdinando Tacca, the nymph lying on a rocky mound, over her discarded drapery, her head thrown back and supported on her left arm (kneeling satyr missing from behind; on rouge mottled socle), mid 17th Century
3 1/8 x 7 3/8in. (7.9 x 18.7cm.)
Literature
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
London, Victoria and Albert Museum, Giambologna, Sculptor to the Medici, 1978, no. 74

Lot Essay

The present cast of the Sleeping Nymph is usually accompanied by the kneeling figure of an enthusiastic satyr. A larger, complete version was included in the London Giambologna exhibition (op.cit.) ascribed to Ferdinando Tacca. Originally, the group derives from Giambologna's sculpture of the same subject, but with several differences; primarily, the nymph's left arm is folded under her head and the chaise-longue is totally draped by a fringed shawl. A bronze cast of the nymph alone is in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; but in the present example the attachment hole for the satyr is still visible. A larger version with the satyr present was sold in these Rooms, 3 July 1990, lot 83.

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