A BRONZE FIGURE OF A FEMALE NUDE

FRANCO-FLEMISH, 17TH CENTURY

Details

A BRONZE FIGURE OF A FEMALE NUDE
Franco-Flemish, 17th century
On a modern circular marble pedestal.
Dark brown patina with greenish brown high points; minor restorations.
9¼ in. (23.5 cm.) high

Literature

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
W. Bode, The Italian Bronze Statuettes of the Renaissance, ed. and rev. by J. Draper, New York, 1980, p. 95, pl. LXXXIII.
F. Goldschmidt, Die italienischen Bronzen der Renaissance und des Barock, Berlin. 1914, pl. 60.
R. R. Wark, Sculpture in the Huntington Collection, Los Angeles, 1974, pl. XXIII.

Lot Essay

In the first half of this century, this model was generally agreed to have been produced in the early 16th century in North Italy, although opinion differed concerning who it was actually by. Bode (loc. cit.) simply called it North Italian, but grouped it with various other pieces, while Goldschmidt (loc. cit.) attributed it to a follower of the Brescian sculptor, Maffeo Olivieri, and Planiscig (loc. cit.) gave it to the Venetian Paolo Savin. More recently, its opulent anatomy and genre-like qualities have suggested that it may be Franco-Flemish in origin and date from the 17th century. A Venus in the Huntingdon Collection (Wark, loc. cit.) is very closely related to the present bronze, and may be by the same master.

Although the trumpet has led some commentators to suppose that the figure is one of the muses, possibly Euterpe, this seems extemely unlikely in view of her nudity. An alternative explanation might be that she is intended to represent a music-making nymph in Arcady.

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