RICCIO, Andrea
(b. 1470, Trento, d. 1532, Padova)

Satyr with an Amphora and Shell

1520s
Bronze, height 20 cm
Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence

Riccio ("curly-haired") was one of the greatest bronzists of the early sixteenth century, although his types and techniques are largely late fifteenth. He was trained as a goldsmith and sculptor in terracotta. His superb bronzes with subtly worked surfaces are unique, and were directly cast using a modelled core, a technical innovation.

Riccio evoked poetically the world of pagan mythology and bestowed on the satyr a popularity it never enjoyed in antiquity. The Satyr with an Amphora and Shell was used as a candle-holder.




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