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Balcony parapet with reliefs Venetian Sculptor

Artist

Venetian Sculptor active in the late15th century

Culture Italian
Date end of the 15th century
Object type sculpture
Medium, technique limestone
Dimensions

94 × 170 × 56 cm, 700 kg

Inventory number 1435-36
Collection Sculptures
On view Museum of Fine Arts, Ground Floor, Renaissance Hall

On this parapet, which was originally part of a balcony in the courtyard of the Fondaco dei Mori in Venice, we see a Renaissance-style formulation of a Gothic theme. In the middle oval field is a scene of a young couple going on a falconry hunt, whose close analogies can be found in French ivory sculpture. To gain a more accurate view of the depiction, we should perhaps look to the knightly literature that had become increasingly popular in Italy since the late twelfth century; it is possible that the sculptor was portraying an episode from the story of Tristan and Isolde. The Renaissance-style putti, which line both sides and are holding casques and shells, and the motifs of the side reliefs with their floral vines ending in dolphin heads, are likely to have been inspired by the works of Pietro Lombardo.

References

Balogh, Jolán, Katalog der ausländischen Bildwerke des Museums der bildenden Künste in Budapest, IV – XVIII. Jahrhundert: 1. Textband Bd. 1, Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 1975, p. 95-96., no. 110.

This record is subject to revision due to ongoing research.

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