WORKSHOP OF GIAMBOLOGNA (1529-1608), LATE 16TH CENTURY

Details

A BRONZE FIGURE OF THE COURT DWARF MORGANTE
WORKSHOP OF GIAMBOLOGNA (1529-1608), LATE 16TH CENTURY
Depicted nude, standing with a walking stick in his left hand and a horn in his right; on an integrally cast oval plinth and later cylindrical marble pedestal; warm chocolate brown patina with traces of a darker surface; very minor dents; minor chips to pedestal
4 7/8 in. (12.5 cm.) high; 8 3/8 in. (21.3 cm.) high, overall

Provenance

Purchased by Alfred Beit (1853-1906) by 1904.
Thence by descent to Lady (Clementine) Beit (1915-2005) by whom donated to the Alfred Beit Foundation in 2005.

Literature

W. Bode, The Art Collection of Mr. Alfred Beit at His Residence 26 Park Lane London, Berlin, 1904, as 'Gian Bologna'.
W. Bode, Catalogue of the Collection of Pictures and Bronzes in the
Possession of Mr. Otto Beit, London, 1913, p. 106, no. 204, as 'Gian Bologna'.
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
C. Avery, Giambologna - The Complete Sculpture, Oxford, 1987, pp. 173, 266, no. 114, fig. 183.
Florence, Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Giambologna - gli dei, gli eroi, 2 Mar. - 15 Jun. 2006, B. P. Strozzi and D. Zykos eds., p. 352, no. 5.

Exhibited

London, Burlington Fine Arts Club, Catalogue of a Collection of Italian Sculpture and other Plastic Art of the Renaissance, 1913, no. 12, pl. XXX.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

Morgante was the court dwarf for the ruling Medici dynasty, and he appeared in at least three different incarnations in Giambologna's oeuvre. The most common are two free-standing bronzes: one where he represents Bacchus, with a tazza in one hand and some grapes in the other, and the present composition where he has a walking stick and cornetto (Avery, op. cit., p. 173). Other examples of the latter exist in the Louvre, the Bargello, and other institutions; the present example is particularly fine both for the quality of the cast and its colour.

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