ATTRIBUTED TO SEVERO DA RAVENNA (FL. CIRCA 1496-1543), EARLY 16TH CENTURY

Details

A BRONZE MODEL OF A FANTASTICAL SEA CREATURE ATTACKED BY TWO SERPENTS
ATTRIBUTED TO SEVERO DA RAVENNA (FL. CIRCA 1496-1543), EARLY 16TH CENTURY
his right arm upraised, his scrolled tail formerly supporting an inkwell, now lacking the upper section to his right arm
6 3⁄8 in. (16.2 cm.) high; 6 in. (15.2 cm.) long

Provenance

Alain Moatti, Paris, 1973,
Acquired from the above by the Blaquier-Arrieta Family.

Literature

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
Königliche Museen zu Berlin, Beschreibung der Bildwerke der Christlichen Epochen, Zweite Auflage, Band II, Die Italienischen Bronzen, Leipzig, 1904, pl. XIX, nos. 344 and 345, p. 17.
G. Migeon, Catalogue raisonné de la collection Martin Le Roy, vol. III, Bronzes et Objets Divers, Paris, 1907, no. 13, pl. VIII.
L. Planiscig, Andrea Riccio, Vienna, 1927, p. 112, fig. 116.
W. Bode, Die Italienischen Bildwerke der Renaissance und des Barock: Zweiter Band, Bonzestatuetten, Berlin, 1930, pp. 19-20, nos. 87 and 88, pl. 29.
J. A. Levenson, K. Oberhuber and J. L. Sheehan, Early Italian Engravings from the National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1973, no. 75-76.
S. Ebert-Schifferer, Natur und Antike in der Renaissance, Liebieghaus, Frankfurt, exh. cat., 1985, p. 442.

Conditions of sale

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Charlotte Young Associate Director, Specialist

cyoung@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2730

Lot Essay

Inspired by the Laocoon group discovered in 1506, the present bronze depicts a Triton being attacked by a snake (Ebert-Schifferer, 1985, loc. cit.). The Triton screams in agony, creating a dramatic tension. Many versions of this model exist, with similar examples being held in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (inv. no. 6988-1860), and the Louvre, Paris (inv. no. OA 6942). By nature, these fantastical creatures are similar to the sea monsters of Severo da Ravenna (1465-1543), one if which is held in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv. no. 25.142.7). This group of Tritons have largely been attributed to the artist and his workshop.

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