Lot Essay
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
London, Victoria and Albert Museum, Giambologna 1529-1608 - Sculptor to the Medici, 5 October - 16 November 1978, p. 86.
C. Avery, Giambologna - The Complete Sculpture, Oxford, 1987, no. 34, p. 256.
Giambologna created many models of the flying Mercury, but this one, known as the Medici Mercury, became one of the most popular ones. The original was part of a fountain in front of the loggia of the Villa Medici in Rome, where it was delivered in June 1580. This model is differentiated from the others by the addition of a head of a putto which blows wind vertically to support Mercury in his flight.
London, Victoria and Albert Museum, Giambologna 1529-1608 - Sculptor to the Medici, 5 October - 16 November 1978, p. 86.
C. Avery, Giambologna - The Complete Sculpture, Oxford, 1987, no. 34, p. 256.
Giambologna created many models of the flying Mercury, but this one, known as the Medici Mercury, became one of the most popular ones. The original was part of a fountain in front of the loggia of the Villa Medici in Rome, where it was delivered in June 1580. This model is differentiated from the others by the addition of a head of a putto which blows wind vertically to support Mercury in his flight.