WORKSHOP OF MASSIMILIANO SOLDANI-BENZI (1656-1740), AFTER THE ANTIQUE, CIRCA 1700

Details

A BRONZE MODEL OF THE VENUS DE' MEDICI
WORKSHOP OF MASSIMILIANO SOLDANI-BENZI (1656-1740), AFTER THE ANTIQUE, CIRCA 1700
Depicted looking to sinister; on a rectangular siena marble base; warm dark brown patina with reddish brown high points
11½ in. (29.2 cm.) high; 12½ in. (31.8 cm.) high, overall

Literature

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
C. Avery, 'Soldani's small bronzes after 'old master' sculptures in Florence', in Kunst des Barock in der Toskana - Studien der Kunst unter den letzten Medici, Munich, 1976, pp. 165-172.
G. Pratesi, ed., Repertorio della Scultura Fiorentina del Seicento e Settecento, Turin, 1993, III, figs. 571-577.

Special notice

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Lot Essay

Massimiliano Soldani-Benzi (1656-1740) - a protégé of the Medici Grand Dukes - originally trained as a medallist, and worked in the grand ducal mint, the Zecca. However, from the 1690s he began working on fully three-dimensional sculpture, and specialised in producing small scale bronzes after antique and 'old master' originals (Avery, loc. cit.). The present figure, based on the celebrated marble original housed in the galleries of the Uffizi where Soldani had his workshop, is one of this series. Although faithfully reproducing the antique original in the general pose, Soldani's own artistic influence is evident in the fleshier proportions and more rounded facial type. At least one other high quality example of this model is known to exist, in a private collection in Toronto (ibid, p. 166, fig. 1).

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