Giambologna: Difference between revisions
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Giambologna was an important influence on later sculptors through his pupils [[Adriaen de Vries]] and [[Pietro Francavilla]] who left his atelier for Paris in 1601, as well as [[Pierre Puget]] who spread Giambologna's influence throughout Northern Europe, and in Italy on [[Pietro Tacca]], who assumed Giambologna's workshop in Florence, and in Rome on [[Gian Lorenzo Bernini]] and [[Alessandro Algardi]]. |
Giambologna was an important influence on later sculptors through his pupils [[Adriaen de Vries]] and [[Pietro Francavilla]] who left his atelier for Paris in 1601, as well as [[Pierre Puget]] who spread Giambologna's influence throughout Northern Europe, and in Italy on [[Pietro Tacca]], who assumed Giambologna's workshop in Florence, and in Rome on [[Gian Lorenzo Bernini]] and [[Alessandro Algardi]]. |
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Recently debate has occurred within the antiques industry after antique dealer Colin Wilson found two bronze monkeys believed to be the work of Giambologna, assumed to be a part of one of his famous fountains currently situated in Aranjuez, south of Madrid. Giambologna expert Charles Avery however disputes this, having already approved a bronze monkey which is currently held in the Louvre. Many believe Avery's claims to be incorrect however, as the monkey in the Louvre is too deep to fit the niche in which it was supposedly situated on the fountain. The quality of Avery's monkey is also for debate; the form is not lifelike, the fur is not realistic and the pose does not match the poses of the monkeys in the Uffizi drawing, which after all, is the only evidence for monkeys being in the niches. Colin Wilson's monkeys however, are made of a gun metal dated to the 16th/17th century, unrefined and of a high lead content, all of which are traits of a work of Giambologna. Despite all this, the debate rages on. |
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== External links == |
== External links == |
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Revision as of 01:14, 12 May 2006
Giambologna, born as Jean Boulogne, also known as Giovanni Da Bologna and Giovanni Bologna (1529 - 1608) was a sculptor, known for his marble and bronze statuary in a late Renaissance or Mannerist style.
Biography
Giambologna was born in Douai, Flanders (now in France). After youthful studies in Antwerp with Jean Dubroeuq, he moved to Italy in 1550, and studied in Rome. Giambologna made detailed study of the sculpture of classical antiquity. He was also much influenced by Michelangelo, but developed his own Mannerist style, with perhaps less emphasis on emotion and more emphasis on refined surfaces, cool elegance and beauty. Pope Pius IV gave Giambologna his first major commission, the colossal bronze Fountain of Neptune (1566) in Bologna. Giambologna spent his most productive years in Florence, where he had settled in 1553. He became the Medici court sculptor, and died in Florence at the age of 79. He was interred in a chapel he designed himself in the Santissima Annunziata.
Giambologna became well known for the fine sense of action and movement. Among his most famous works are: the winged Mercury (of which he actually did multiple versions), poised on one foot, supported by a zephyr, several depictions of Venus, Florence defeating Pisa, the three intertwined figures of The Rape of the Sabine Women (1574-82) and Hercules beating the Centaur Nessus (1599), both in the Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence, the equestrian statue of Cosimo I de' Medici also in Florence, as well as many sculptures for garden grottos and fountains in the Boboli Gardens of Florence and at Pratolino, and the bronze doors of the cathedral of Pisa. Small bronze reductions of many of his sculptures were prized by connoisseurs at the time and ever since, for Giambologna's reputation has never suffered eclipse.
Giambologna was an important influence on later sculptors through his pupils Adriaen de Vries and Pietro Francavilla who left his atelier for Paris in 1601, as well as Pierre Puget who spread Giambologna's influence throughout Northern Europe, and in Italy on Pietro Tacca, who assumed Giambologna's workshop in Florence, and in Rome on Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Alessandro Algardi.
Recently debate has occurred within the antiques industry after antique dealer Colin Wilson found two bronze monkeys believed to be the work of Giambologna, assumed to be a part of one of his famous fountains currently situated in Aranjuez, south of Madrid. Giambologna expert Charles Avery however disputes this, having already approved a bronze monkey which is currently held in the Louvre. Many believe Avery's claims to be incorrect however, as the monkey in the Louvre is too deep to fit the niche in which it was supposedly situated on the fountain. The quality of Avery's monkey is also for debate; the form is not lifelike, the fur is not realistic and the pose does not match the poses of the monkeys in the Uffizi drawing, which after all, is the only evidence for monkeys being in the niches. Colin Wilson's monkeys however, are made of a gun metal dated to the 16th/17th century, unrefined and of a high lead content, all of which are traits of a work of Giambologna. Despite all this, the debate rages on.
External links
