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Lot Essay
This dramatic bronze figure is after one of a series of seven bronze gods and goddesses first modelled by Michel Anguier in 1652. As noted by Ian Wardropper (I. Wardropper, 'Michel Anguier's Series of Bronze Gods and Goddesses: A Re-Examination', Marsyas, no. 18, 1976, pp. 23-36), the first mention of this series was made in his biography delivered to the French Academy of Painting and Sculpture in 1690 by Guillet de Saint-Georges:
Monsieur Anguier fut occupé en 1652 aux modèles de six figures, chacune de 18 pouces qui ont été jeté en bronze et qui représentent un Jupiter foudroyant, une Juno jalouse, un Neptune agité, une Amphitrite tranquille, un Plouton mélancholique, un Mars qui quitte ses arms et une Cérès éplorée. Ces figures sont aujourd' hui à M. Montarsis, joallier du roi.
The figure of Neptune is represented according to iconological convention recorded in Ripa's Iconologia, standing above a sea horse and also holding the symbol of his power, a trident. Wardropper further notes that the Neptune is based upon the Quos Ego from the Aeneid as he calms the storm threatening the Trojan fleet.
Taken as a series, Anguier's group is reminescent of both Giambologna's now lost silver casts of the Labours of Hercules; commissioned for the Tribuna of the Uffizi in 1576, and also of the eight bronze gods and goddesses for the studiolo of Francesco I, also in Florence, that were executed by a number of different artists from 1572 to 1576. Owing to their frontal format, self-contained triangular composition and complementary thematic scheme, it has been suggested that Anguier's original series was meant to be displayed in niches in a similar manner to the other series mentioned (Wardropper, op. cit, p. 31), though the precise relation of the King's jeweller, Monseuir Laurent de Montarsis with the statuettes has not yet been clarified.
Anguier's impetus for producing a series of small bronze figures most likely can be traced to his experience in Rome, where he worked in the workshop of first Alessandro Algardi, then briefly in that of Bernini. Certainly during his time in Algardi's workshop, he would have seen the financial potential inherent to bronze statuettes, such as the fire dogs commissioned for Philip IV of Spain from Algardi by Velázquez in 1650. With Anguier's return to Paris in 1651, it appears that he hoped to emulate Algardi's example and indeed take advantage of their brief association in Rome.
The popularity of Anguier's series in 17th century French circles can be demonstrated by the number of good quality statuettes and perhaps, more interestingly, the variety of representations or copies. An example of the latter includes the large marble copy of Anguier's Amphitrite for the garden at Versailles, carved between 1680 and 1684 by Nicolas Massé. Perhaps more interesting is a series of engravings by Louis Desplaces (d.1739) that include the Neptune before an imaginary landscape. It is most likely that Desplaces' engravings, which date to after 1710, were based on a bronze statuette (B. Black and H.-W. Nadeau, Michel Anguier's Pluto: The Marble of 1669, Atlantic Highlands, NJ, 1990, plate 11 and p. 20).
Other statuettes of Neptune have been published and include: one, a bequest of Benjamin Altman to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1913; a second in the collection of Miss Jennifer Montagu, London; a third in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; and a fourth shown in The French Bronze: 1500 to 1800, Knoedler & Co., New York, 6-27 November 1968, cat. no. 21A. Among these models, there are subtle differences in modelling, casting and finishing. For example, different treatment of the naturalistically-modelled bases, the modelling of the hair and fall of drapery can be noted. These figures interestingly compare well with Desplaces' engraving, though the present bronze differs for the disposition of drapery between the figure's legs. Comparison with the bronze in the Metropolitan Museum of Art has shown differences in the modelling of Neptune's musculature and in the sea horse's neck as well as differences in the casting alloy and patina. Despite this, there seems to be little variation in size between the various models.
Monsieur Anguier fut occupé en 1652 aux modèles de six figures, chacune de 18 pouces qui ont été jeté en bronze et qui représentent un Jupiter foudroyant, une Juno jalouse, un Neptune agité, une Amphitrite tranquille, un Plouton mélancholique, un Mars qui quitte ses arms et une Cérès éplorée. Ces figures sont aujourd' hui à M. Montarsis, joallier du roi.
The figure of Neptune is represented according to iconological convention recorded in Ripa's Iconologia, standing above a sea horse and also holding the symbol of his power, a trident. Wardropper further notes that the Neptune is based upon the Quos Ego from the Aeneid as he calms the storm threatening the Trojan fleet.
Taken as a series, Anguier's group is reminescent of both Giambologna's now lost silver casts of the Labours of Hercules; commissioned for the Tribuna of the Uffizi in 1576, and also of the eight bronze gods and goddesses for the studiolo of Francesco I, also in Florence, that were executed by a number of different artists from 1572 to 1576. Owing to their frontal format, self-contained triangular composition and complementary thematic scheme, it has been suggested that Anguier's original series was meant to be displayed in niches in a similar manner to the other series mentioned (Wardropper, op. cit, p. 31), though the precise relation of the King's jeweller, Monseuir Laurent de Montarsis with the statuettes has not yet been clarified.
Anguier's impetus for producing a series of small bronze figures most likely can be traced to his experience in Rome, where he worked in the workshop of first Alessandro Algardi, then briefly in that of Bernini. Certainly during his time in Algardi's workshop, he would have seen the financial potential inherent to bronze statuettes, such as the fire dogs commissioned for Philip IV of Spain from Algardi by Velázquez in 1650. With Anguier's return to Paris in 1651, it appears that he hoped to emulate Algardi's example and indeed take advantage of their brief association in Rome.
The popularity of Anguier's series in 17th century French circles can be demonstrated by the number of good quality statuettes and perhaps, more interestingly, the variety of representations or copies. An example of the latter includes the large marble copy of Anguier's Amphitrite for the garden at Versailles, carved between 1680 and 1684 by Nicolas Massé. Perhaps more interesting is a series of engravings by Louis Desplaces (d.1739) that include the Neptune before an imaginary landscape. It is most likely that Desplaces' engravings, which date to after 1710, were based on a bronze statuette (B. Black and H.-W. Nadeau, Michel Anguier's Pluto: The Marble of 1669, Atlantic Highlands, NJ, 1990, plate 11 and p. 20).
Other statuettes of Neptune have been published and include: one, a bequest of Benjamin Altman to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1913; a second in the collection of Miss Jennifer Montagu, London; a third in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; and a fourth shown in The French Bronze: 1500 to 1800, Knoedler & Co., New York, 6-27 November 1968, cat. no. 21A. Among these models, there are subtle differences in modelling, casting and finishing. For example, different treatment of the naturalistically-modelled bases, the modelling of the hair and fall of drapery can be noted. These figures interestingly compare well with Desplaces' engraving, though the present bronze differs for the disposition of drapery between the figure's legs. Comparison with the bronze in the Metropolitan Museum of Art has shown differences in the modelling of Neptune's musculature and in the sea horse's neck as well as differences in the casting alloy and patina. Despite this, there seems to be little variation in size between the various models.