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Giambologna's earliest statuette of Mercury in Bologna was later developed into a life-size figure despatched in 1564-65 to Emperor Maximilian II (survived in Stockholm), and in 1580 into the so-called Medici Mercury in the Bargello. The signed statuette in Vienna (c. 1585) from the Kunstkammer (art chamber) represents the most mature composition.
The origins of the beautiful, balanced pose may be found in bronzes of the 15th century by Antonio del Pollaiuolo and Andrea del Verrocchio, as well as in the statuette of Mercury on the base of Benvenuto Cellini’s statue of Perseus with the Head of Medusa.
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