LOT DETAILS

Materials:

Bronze

Size Notes:

Anthony Radcliffe suggested that the present model was created by Giambologna in the 1580's and the extant casts can be divided into two variants: the first (Type A) with cornetto and walking stick and the second (Type B) where Morgante appears as Bacchus holding a wine cup, as seen in the present model. Leithe-Jasper and Wengraf (cf. pp. 162-165) expanded upon Radcliffe's categorization of the two variants, noting that Type B may be a slightly later version of the subject.

Description:

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Markings:

Morgante (c. 1535-after 1594) was the celebrated court dwarf of Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany and he was portrayed numerous times by the most important artists in the Medici court including Bronzino in his double sided portrait in the Uffizi; Valerio Cioli in a large-scale sculpture of Morgante astride a turtle in the Boboli gardens (dating to the 1560's); and by Giambologna in small scale bronze statuettes, including the present model and a Morgante on a dragon in the Bargello (cast in 1582).