Abduction of Dejanira - Lot 56

Lot 56
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5000 - 7000 EUR
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Result : 13 398EUR
Abduction of Dejanira - Lot 56
Abduction of Dejanira bronze, reddish-brown patina; on a later blackened wooden base Southern Germany or Austria, first half of the 17th century, after Giambologna (1529-1608) and Pietro Tacca (1577-1640) Height (bronze) (bronze) : 44 cm (accidents of casting, the tail of Nessus and the fingers of the left hand of Dejanira missing, small dents, missing patina) This composition derives from the third version, attributed to Pietro Tacca, of the model of Giambologna's model of the abduction of Dejanira. The Louvre Museum holds a copy of this copy of it, numbered 305 in the inventory of the Crown Bronzes (inv. OA 9480). As in the version in the Louvre, Nessus, with his bust turned to the left, carries Dejanira on his right side and firmly holds the torso of his captive, which is turned to the left. left. Dejanira's right leg is bent, her foot pushing back the top of the centaur's rump; her right hand is resting on Nessus' left side and her left arm is raised in a gesture of imploring. The composition of our bronze, however, differs from the third version attributed to Tacca, notably in the orientation of Dejanira's head and in the positioning of Nessus' hands holding firmly the bust of his victim. The cast, both powerful and detailed, is denser than the Florentine examples, and can be compared to the productions of northern Europe in the first half of the 17th century, particularly in southern Germany and Austria, between Munich and Innsbruck, in the circle of Hubert Gerhard (around 1545/50-1620) and Caspar Gras (1585-1674). Nessus' exaggerated musculature, his imposing hands with large joints, his expressive face expressive face, the voluminous curls of his hair and beard can be compared to the figures of the river gods in the Wittelsbach fountain by Gerhard (ca. 1584-1588; Residenz, Munich), a wax model of which is in the Louvre (inv. RF 4747), and his small bronzes such as the River God in the Liechtenstein Princely Collection (ca. 1580; Vaduz-Vienna, inv. SK 1530). The developed hindquarters of Nessus and the meticulously of the veins running under his skin and of his shoeing can also be compared to the equestrian subjects of Caspar Gras, such as his portrait of the Archduke Ferdinand Charles of Austria (ca. 1648; Victoria & Albert Museum, London, inv. A.16-1960). Bibliographical references: Ch. Avery, A. Radcliffe (eds.), Giambologna 1529-1608. Sculptor to the Medici, cat. exp. Edinburgh, London, Vienna, 1978, p. 116, no. 67 ("Type C"); J. Warren, Beauty & Power. Renaissance and Baroque Bronzes from the Peter Marino Collection, cat. exp. Wallace Collection, London, 2010, pp. 74-79; J. L. Burk, D. Diemer, Ch. Quaeitzsch, S. Wölfle, D. Zikos, Bella Figura. Europäische Bronzekunst in Süddeutscheland um 1600, cat. exp. Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich, 2015, pp. 333-351
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