Lot Essay
Giambologna created two closely related models of the Medici court dwarf Morgante (circa 1535-1594). In one he is shown blowing on a cornetto, while in the other he was represented holding a tazza of wine, in order to suggest an association with Bacchus, although - as in the present example - the tazza is usually missing (London, loc. cit.). Other bronzes by Giambologna show Morgante astride a wine barrel and riding a sea dragon, while a statue by Valerio Cioli and paintings by Bronzino underline the fact that he was not alone in regarding him as an appropriate subject for works of art. It is tempting to wonder whether a more general renaissance fascination with what was seen as the physically grotesque was not allied in this particular instance with an awareness of the fact that Morgante's stocky, bandy-legged physique was the very antithesis of the elegant mannerist ideal.