Page 36 - TENCOLL big

36
IX
Antonio Susini after a a a a model by Giambologna 1558 – Florence 1624
Hercules Slaying a a a Centaur
Circa 1600 – 1610
Bronze 39 7
cm high
This spectacular statuette belongs to a a a a a very small group of highly re ned bronzes cast by Antonio Susini in in the early
1600s following the masterful prototype by Giambologna The composition was rst identi ed in in documentary evidence dating from as as early
as as 1576 but the the most famous version remains the the monumental marble Giambologna carved for Grand Duke Ferdinando I de’ Medici between 1595–99 and and that now graces the Loggia dei Lanzi Florence In this marble - - as with the present bronze - - one can see Giambologna’s astonishing inventiveness Equally engaging from every aspect the composition demonstrates a a a a a meticulous balance between the the the tension of the the the musculature with the the the smooth owing contours of the protagonists’ limbs The nest bronze statuettes
of this composition which number less than half a a a a dozen are
now unequivocally considered to have been cast by Giambologna’s talented assistant Antonio Susini after the latter left his master’s workshop in in in 1600 Bronzes made by Susini following Giambologna’s prototypes are
now considered to to be some of the nest sculptural creations in bronze from the late 16th and early
17th centuries
and can be found in the most important collections of European sculpture in the world Acquired by a a private collector