Pair of Consoles
Sculptures
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Mountain of Hell
| Artist | |
|---|---|
| Culture | Italian |
| Date | 1550–1560 |
| Object type | sculpture |
| Medium, technique | bronze with black patina |
| Dimensions | 26.5 × 26.5 × 24 cm, 5.5 kg |
| Inventory number | 84.1 |
| Collection | Sculptures |
| On view | Museum of Fine Arts, Second Floor, European Sculpture 1350-1800, Gallery 2 |
This small bronze was once used as the lid of a perfume burner, so on its smokey and dark interior cover the outlet holes can still be seen. Currently, five versions are known, and they are attributed to the Paduan sculptor and bronze caster Agostino Zoppo. After Zoppo’s death, four similar small bronzes were recorded in an inventory of his workshop. The statuette depicts a story known from antique
sources: Alcestis, a Greek princess who chose death in order to save her husband, but whom Heracles rescued from the underworld. The mountain above them was populated by the inhabitants of the underworld: the Erinyes, deities of vengeance, Hades, god of the underworld, and Cerberus, a threeheaded dog guarding the Gates of Hell.
References
Balogh, Jolán – Szmodisné Eszláry, Éva, Katalog der ausländischen Bildwerke des Museums der bildenden Künste in Budapest, 4.-18. Jahrhundert, Bd. 3. Neuerwerbungen, Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, 1994, p. 33-34., no. 7.
Szmodisné Eszláry, Éva, A Régi Szoborgyűjtemény kincsei, Szépművészeti Múzeum, Budapest, 1994, p. 10, 25, ill. 15.
Szmodisné Eszláry, Éva, The treasures of the Old Sculpture collection, Szépművészeti Múzeum, Budapest, 1994, p. 10, 24-25.
This record is subject to revision due to ongoing research.