GIAMBOLOGNA
(b. 1529, Douai, d. 1608, Firenze)

Mercury

1563-64
Bronze, height 56 cm
Museo Civico, Bologna

This figure was supposedly made during the period when the artist was working in Bologna on the Neptune fountain; it is considered the model for a larger bronze statue, perhaps never realized. This was the first version of a theme which Giambologna re-proposed in numerous variations and dimensions. One of the most lovely among the larger examples is that conserved in the Bargello in Florence.




© Web Gallery of Art, created by Emil Krén and Daniel Marx.