Attributed to Massimiliano Soldani Benzi (1656-1740) | Italian, Florence, first half 18th century | After the Antique | The Apollino and Mercury

Soldani was responsible for casting a series of fine small scale bronzes (all circa 30cm high) of the most famous ancient and renaissance sculptural models. Alongside the Dancing Faun, Sansovino's Bacchus, and the Venus de' Medici, the Apollino and the Mercurio were amongst the models selected by the sculptor, whose small scale statuettes are recorded in the Doccia porcelain inventories, including: 'No. 22 Mercurio appoggiato col braccio destro al tronco. Con sue forme' and 'No. 43 Apollo di Villa Medici, ora in Galleria di Firenze, con sue forme (published by Lankheit, 1982, op. cit., pp. 105, 158). The present bronzes are particularly fine casts with pins to the undersides which are characteristic of Soldani bronzes. Casts of both models by Soldani are in the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence (illustrated in Schmidt et al., op. cit., pp. 72-72, figs. 7 and 9).

RELATED LITERATURE

K. Lankheit, Florentinische Barockplastik: Die Kunst am Hofe der letzten Medici 1670-1743, Munich, 1962; C. Avery, 'Soldani's Small Bronze Statuettes after 'Old Masters' Sculptures in Florence,' K. Lankheit, Kunst des Barock in der Toskana. Studien zur Kunst unter den letzten Medici, Munich, 1976, pp. 165-172; E. Schmidt, S. Bellesi and R. Gennaioli, Plasmato dal fuoco: La scultura in bronzo nella Firenze degli ultimi Medici, exh. cat. Palazzo Pitti, 2019

The present bronzes are the subject of an expertise by Dr Charles Avery, in which he attributes them firmly to Massimiliano Soldani-Benzi. This expertise is available upon request.