Baptismal Font
Sculptures
We use cookies to provide you with the best possible service and a user-friendly website.
Please find our Privacy Policy on data protection and data management here
Please find more information on the cookies here
Hercules and Nessus
| Artist | |
|---|---|
| Date | ca. 1600 |
| Object type | sculpture |
| Medium, technique | bronze |
| Dimensions | 37 × 28.5 × 23 cm |
| Inventory number | 5356 |
| Collection | Sculptures |
| On view | Museum of Fine Arts, First Floor, European Art 1250-1600, Gallery XVIII |
Between 1576 and 1589 Giambologna executed six silver statuettes depicting the labours of Hercules as a commission for Ferdinando I, grand duke of Turscany. Although the works did not survive, the sculptor carved the composition
of Hercules and Nessus in marble, which still stands at its original site at the Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence. The popularity of the statue is shown by the small bronzes that Giambologna’s students cast after it with slight alterations. The finely
chiselled, high-quality statuette in Budapest belongs to the earliest casts after Giambologna’s original composition and it can be linked to the master’s close associate, the excellent bronzecaster Antonio Susini.
References
Petrovics, Elek – Meller, Simon, Ferenczy István bronzgyűjteményének kiállítása, Országos Magyar Szépművészeti Múzeum, Budapest, 1917, p. 14.
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. 130-131., no. 166.
This record is subject to revision due to ongoing research.