Giovanni Bologna, school of

Giambologna arrived in Florence from a two year stay in Rome in 1553. He there received the patronage of Bernardo Vecchietto (1514-1590), a Florentine banker. During his first two to three years in Florence he studied sculpture and made small models. According to R. Borghini in his biography on the artist, Il Riposo, from 1584, ”Giambologna achieved much acclaim for his skill, but that he was only good at modeling in wax or clay. Giambologna wanted to show that he was also able to prove his talent in marble and begged Vecchietto to let him have a block of marble to make something. Having got hold of a block he carved from it in no time at all an exceedingly beautiful Venus.” (cited in C. Avery, Giambologna, 1987, p. 150). This juvenile work, which has never been identified, was successful enough for Vecchietti to introduce Giambologna to prince Francesco de Medici (op. cit., p. 16). Avery, followed by other scholars, has ruled out the possibility that a kneeling figure of Venus in alabaster in an English countryhouse could be the Venus carved for Vecchietti, as suggested by earlier scholars, since the whole point of this "commission" was to convince Vecchietti of Giambolognas skill in cutting in marble (op. cit., No. 164, p. 273). Avery is not even convinced that the alabaster is by Giambologna since its whethered and altered condition makes it difficult to assess. The present marble shows a distinct classisistic style, which would be expected of a work by the young Giambologna, since he studied antique sculpture both in Rome and Florence.

A terracotta model by Giambologna of this composition is in the Horne Museum, Florence (op. cit., No. 171, p. 274; exh. Cat., Salander-O´Reilly Galleries, New York, Giambologna. An exhibition of sculpture by the master and his followers…, 1993, cat. by C. Avery, p. 4, fig. 1). A signed small bronze cast originating from Ferdinando de´Medici in 1584 is in the Bargello, Florenze (Avery, 1987, op. cit., No. 61, p. 260, pl. 136). In one major aspect, the present marble differs to both the terracotta and the bronze. In the terracotta and the bronze models the woman is drying herself with a towel that curves behind her back and which she is holding with her both hands. In the marble, in comparison, the size of the cloth is reduced and is confined only to her right hand while with her left hand she is holding the tail of her long hair.