Giambologna-Garden - Lot 128

Giambologna-Garden Pair of marble garden figures representing a Piper and a Peasant resting on his stick Based on models by Giambologna (1529-1608), Netherlands or Italy, 18th century Resting on an octagonal base; weathered surface and old restorations Height: 116 cm Provenance: - Former English private collection. - Former François Antonovich collection, France. - French private collection (adm). Genre figures of peasants and musicians, typical of Netherlandish art, gained popularity in Italy after Giambologna introduced such subjects to the Florentine court. The sculptor's bronzes were also adapted to garden statuary (Weihrauch 1967, p.9), as are our two figures here. The sculptor who created our two marbles was certainly inspired by Giambologna's bronze models Peasant resting on his stick and Seated piper. He was also probably familiar with the life-size stone figure Villano sculpted for a fountain in Livorno by the sculptor Romolo Ferruccui (1544-1621) between 1605 and 1628, an article on which Dimitrios Zikos has published (loc. cit.,). A similar garden sculpture of a seated piper was made around 1680-1690 by the Danish sculptor Caius Gabriel Cibber (1630-1700) and is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London (A.3-1930). Cibber studied in the Netherlands and Rome, before moving to England in the 1650s, where he was appointed ordinary sculptor to William III in 1693. Comparative bibliography: Dimitrios Zikos, 'Romolo Ferrucci del Tadda. The Villano for Livorno. A case for the success of a Giambologna model in Tuscany, Bacarelli Botticelli, Firenze 2012. Hans R. Weihrauch, Europäische Bronzestatuetten 15.- 18. Jahrhundert, Brunswick 1967, p.9. Edinburgh, London, Vienna, Royal Scottish Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, and Kunsthistorisches Museum, Giambologna 1529-1608 Sculptor to the Medici, Aug. 19. - 10 sep.1978 and 2 dec. 1978 - 28 jan. 1979, C. Avery and A. Radcliffe eds, pp.164-166