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In 1616 Cosimo II granted Tacca the use for his lifetime of Giambologna's house, studio and models. After Cosimo's death in 1621, Tacca served Ferdinand II, retaining his position of major court artist. The first of the three major projects that dominated the second half of his career was the Four Slaves for the base of Giovanni Bandini's standing marble statue of Ferdinand I.
Bandini's statue is a typical product of its time, tight and self-contained, but the Slaves (which to this day remain Tacca's most popular works) are set freely round the plinth, so that they pull away from the corners of the monument. Tacca was an emotional artist, and the bulging bodies of the Slaves are modelled with strong dramatic sense.
The picture shows one of the four bronze prisoners.
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