Lot Essay
The dynamic bronze Écorché offered here is an adaptation of the highly celebrated model created by Willem van Tetrode in the mid-1560s during his time in Italy. Although only two known examples from his hand appear to exist (in the Abbot Guggenheim Collection and the Hearn Family Trust, New York) their influence in the 17th century was significant as is evidenced by Rubens' various studies of the bronze (see the pen and brown ink studies in the J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu and another study sold in Christie's London, 6th June 1999, lot 223) as well as other interpretations by 17th century Netherlandish artists such as Hendrich Goltzius, Cornelius Saftleven and Michiel van Musschler. The bronze offered here, which is very similar to the two bronzes in New York, represents a significant alteration from the orginial composition in that a plinth has been added beneath the proper right foot so that the composition may stand upright.