COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
C. Avery and A. Radcliffe, eds., Giambologna: Sculptor to the Medici, exh. cat., Arts Council of Great Britain, London, 1978, nos. 69-74.
W. Seipel, ed., Giambologna: Triumph des Körpers, exh. cat., Vienna, 2006, no. 8.
Originally part of the group known as the Sleeping Nymph with Satyr, this Satyr still retains all of its mischevious delight in surprising the beautiful woman on her day bed. The primary documented model, attributed to Giambologna, was already listed in the Dresden Kunstkammer inventory of 1587 and remains there to this day. Although there are slightly later versions attributed to Susini and his own followers, these tend to have much more refined and harder surfaces, while the present bronze retains some of the rusticity of many late 16th century bronzes.