A BRONZE MODEL OF HERCULES SLAYING THE HYDRA
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A BRONZE MODEL OF HERCULES SLAYING THE HYDRA

AFTER GIAMBOLOGNA, SOUTH GERMAN, FIRST QUARTER 17TH CENTURY

Details
A BRONZE MODEL OF HERCULES SLAYING THE HYDRA
AFTER GIAMBOLOGNA, SOUTH GERMAN, FIRST QUARTER 17TH CENTURY
Hercules depicted standing astride the seven headed Hydra and with a club upraised in his right hand; on an integrally cast octagonal plinth; medium brown patina with brassy high points
16 5/8 in. (42.2 cm.) high
Provenance
Christie's, London, 20 April 1988, lot 89 (5,800) and Christie's, London, 7 July 1998, lot 128 (8,050).
Purchased by the present owner in the above sale.
Literature
Edinburgh, London, Vienna, Royal Scottish Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum and Kunsthistorisches Museum, Giambologna 1529-1698 Sculptor to the Medici, 19 Aug. - 10 Sep. 1978, 5 Oct. - 16 Nov. 1978 and 2 Dec. 1978 - 28 Jan. 1979, C. Avery and A. Radcliffe eds., p. 122.
Florence, Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Giambologna - gli dei, gli eroi, 2 Mar. - 15 Jun. 2006, D. Zikos and B. Paolozzi Strozzi eds., pp. 184-5, no. 14.
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

Between 1576 and 1589 Giambologna cast in silver a set of six figures of the Labours of Hercules for Francesco I de' Medici that were destined for the Tribuna of the Uffizi, Florence. All are now lost, but the models were recorded in anonymously made bronze replicas that closely followed Giambologna's style. Avery, in his introduction to the models of the Labours (loc. cit.), proposed that it was Pietro Tacca, Giambologna's proégé, that executed the bronzes as he, by 1633, was asking for payment from the Grand Duke for the five bronzes he made as diplomatic gifts for Charles I.

Although the present lot is clearly the inspired by this series, and certainly a by-product of Giambologna's creative genius, it does not correspond directly to his original wax model in the Palazzo Vecchio, Florence (Florence, loc. cit.). While the figure of Hercules has retained the same pose and physiognomy, Giambologna's Hydra has been substituted for another, more serpent-like beast. The vigorous chasing to the surface of the serpent's necks, combined with the brassy alloy of the metal, suggests that the bronze is the product of a northern European foundry, probably in southern Germany, where Giambologna's works were highly acclaimed even in his lifetime. Indeed, Adrien de Vries, one of Giambologna's great protégés, produced a monumental fountain for the Weinmarkt, Augsburg, surmounted by a figure of Hercules slaying the Hydra. It is quite likely, therefore, that the original model was appropriated by a follower of Giambologna's and interpreted sometime in the early 17th century.

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