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Lot Essay
Camins argued that the present bronze is dependent on the marble figure of Saturn made by Agostino Rubini for the roof balustrade of the Libreria Marciana in Venice. Rubini was a disciple of Alessandro Vittoria and went to Venice to work on the decoration of the Libraria under the architect Vincenzo Scamozzi’s direction. Rubini also carved a figure of Diana for this balustrade which was reproduced in bronze (Museo Civico, Padua and Museo Correr, Venice), probably by the same workshop as the present bronze.
The present bronze is stamped with the initials I.C. on the base. There are two other known Venetian bronzes that display the same signature; Venus Marina in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Pluto sold at Christie’s, London, 20 November 1967, lot 167. Four other bronzes have the related stamps O.I.C.F. and I.C.F. All of these relate to carved marble figures by Girolamo Campagna on the Libreria balustrade. Although they are not simple reductions of the marbles, each bronze is stylistically very similar, and both Timofiewitsch (op. cit., p. 22) and then Camins (loc. cit.) argued that they were made by the same founder and, in this case, by Giuseppe Campagna, brother of Girolamo Campagna.
Gorez-Moreno (loc. cit.) tentatively agreed with the attribution, citing the differences in surface treatment as compared to the monumental bronze sculptures cast from models by Girolamo Campagna, such as those on the high altar of San Giorgio Maggiore. However, this group of bronzes is similar to several early works by Girolamo, such as the stucco figures of Sybils in San Sebastian. The Metropolitan Museum Venus Marina, with the same inscribed I.C. as the Abbott Guggenheim bronze, is currently attributed to Girolamo, as is a figure of Jupiter in the Detroit Museum of Arts, which is a variant of the same model as the Abbott Guggenheim Saturn, albeit with an accompanying eagle to identify it as Jupiter. Darr noted differences in the treatment of the surface of the drapery and facial types between the Detroit Jupiter and Abbott Guggenheim and Metropolitan Museum bronzes, which may indicate that the later two 'may be slightly later variants of Campagna's models than the apparently earlier Detroit statuette', and this corresponds to a dating circa 1590-1620.
The present bronze is stamped with the initials I.C. on the base. There are two other known Venetian bronzes that display the same signature; Venus Marina in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Pluto sold at Christie’s, London, 20 November 1967, lot 167. Four other bronzes have the related stamps O.I.C.F. and I.C.F. All of these relate to carved marble figures by Girolamo Campagna on the Libreria balustrade. Although they are not simple reductions of the marbles, each bronze is stylistically very similar, and both Timofiewitsch (op. cit., p. 22) and then Camins (loc. cit.) argued that they were made by the same founder and, in this case, by Giuseppe Campagna, brother of Girolamo Campagna.
Gorez-Moreno (loc. cit.) tentatively agreed with the attribution, citing the differences in surface treatment as compared to the monumental bronze sculptures cast from models by Girolamo Campagna, such as those on the high altar of San Giorgio Maggiore. However, this group of bronzes is similar to several early works by Girolamo, such as the stucco figures of Sybils in San Sebastian. The Metropolitan Museum Venus Marina, with the same inscribed I.C. as the Abbott Guggenheim bronze, is currently attributed to Girolamo, as is a figure of Jupiter in the Detroit Museum of Arts, which is a variant of the same model as the Abbott Guggenheim Saturn, albeit with an accompanying eagle to identify it as Jupiter. Darr noted differences in the treatment of the surface of the drapery and facial types between the Detroit Jupiter and Abbott Guggenheim and Metropolitan Museum bronzes, which may indicate that the later two 'may be slightly later variants of Campagna's models than the apparently earlier Detroit statuette', and this corresponds to a dating circa 1590-1620.