AN ITALIAN BRONZE EQUESTRIAN FIGURE OF 'IL COLLEONI', after Andrea del Verrocchio, the general shown in full armour, on mottled pink and yellow waisted marble socle, late 19th or early 20th Century

The present bronze is a reduction of the celebrated Monument to Colleoni erected in the Campo SS. Giovanni e Paolo in Venice. Verrocchio gained the commission for the equestrian monument on winning the competition for it in 1483, it was his last work, and the casting was completed after his death by Leopardi, the whole being unveiled only in 1496. Together with Donatello's Gattamelata in Padua, the Colleoni stands as the most successful and impressive Renaissance equestrian group, this popularity resulted in bronze reductions being cast, particularly in the 19th century.