ITALIAN, PROBABLY MANTUA, 16TH CENTURY

The present terracotta appears to have been cast, and possibly represents the artist's attempt to preserve a model originally executed in wax. It is closely related to a drawing of a standing figure of Apollo in the Wakefield Art Gallery, which is attributed to Giulio Romano (?1499-1546) and dated to circa 1524-25. The drawing is, in turn, thought to depict an existing bronze, currently on loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum (both illustrated in Berlin, loc. cit.). There are differences between the terracotta and the bronze figure, such as the absence of the cloak that is draped around the shoulders of the bronze and the angle of the proper left arm. The present terracotta may therefore represent an early - intermediate - stage in the development of the composition for the bronze figure. Alternatively, it may have been taken from an unknown third figure which was also the inspiration for the bronze.