Attributed to Massimiliano Soldani Benzi

Sotheby's London, 2 April 1985, lot 129;

Where acquired by Philip Hewat-Jaboor

In 1701 the Prince of Liechtenstein requested that Soldani send him twelve terracotta figures after the best classical and High-Renaissance sculptures in the Uffizi. In 1702, twelve wax bozzettos were sent off with a covering note to emphasize that although roughly finished, Soldani would be prepared to cast identical models if the Prince desired them as cabinet pieces. The statuettes became a great success and entered several noble collections. The nude athlete, an intricate study of male anatomy, was one of the most succesful of Soldani's reductions. Further casts are in the Bargello in Florence, the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum in Munich and the Hertog Anton-Ulrich Museum in Brunswick. A further cast, formerly in the collection of Lord Astor of Hever, was sold in these rooms on 5 December 2012, lot 118.

The present bronze differs from other casts in having a naturalistic terrasse (base) which recalls earlier Florentine late baroque sculpture. A similar rocky terrasse is seen on the large scale Lottatori and Arrotino bronzes cast by Soldani for the Duke of Marlborough. Compare also with Giovacchino Fortini's Laocoön in the Museo di Casa Martelli (inv. no. 87).

RELATED LITERATURE

K. Lankheit, 'Eine serie Barocker Antiken-nachbildungen aus der werkstatt des Massimiliano Soldani,' Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Römische Abteilung, vol. 65, 1958, pp. 186-198, pl. 62; C. Avery, 'Soldani's small bronze statuettes after 'Old Master' sculptures in Florence,' H Keutner (ed.), Kunst des Barock in der Toskana. Studien zur Kunst unter den letzten Medici, Munich, 1976, pp. 165-72, fig. 2; M. Leithe-Jasper and P. Wengraf, European Bronzes from the Quentin Collection, exhib. cat. The Frick Collection, New York, 2004, pp. 262-7, no. 29; J. Warren, Beauty and Power. Renaissance and Baroque Bronzes from the Peter Marino Collection, exhib. cat. Wallace Collection, Huntington Art Collections and Minneapolis Institute of Arts, London, 2010, pp. 216-25, no. 20; E. Schmidt, S. Bellesi and R. Gennaioli, Plasmato dal fuoco: La scultura in bronzo nella Firenze degli ultimi Medici, exh. cat., Gallerie degli Uffizi, Florence, 2019, pp. 294-297, 310-313, nos. 64, 65, 71