After Girolamo Campagna

Sotheby's, Paris, 9 April 2008, lot 59

The present pair of bronzes display the stylistic hallmarks of Girolamo Campagna (1549-1625), whose workshop dominated sculpture production in Venice in the later decades of the 16th century and early 17th century. Campagna was celebrated for his expressive style, which is reflected in the form and finish of the present bronzes. Adonis is accompanied by a dog whose fur is finely incised with short lines, while Venus stands alongside Cupid. Both figures stand in a contrapposto pose, subtly leaning to opposite sides. The statues were probably positioned on top of a bronze andiron, indicated by the holes in their integral bases. 

Planiscig (op. cit.) associated the figure of Venus with Tiziano Aspetti (1559-1606), while ascribing the Adonis to Campagna. Today, both models are associated with Campagna's oeuvre. A pair of casts similar to the present bronzes is illustrated by Motture (op. cit., p. 289, fig. 14).

RELATED LITERATURE

L. Planiscig, Venezianische Bildhauer der Renaissance, Vienna, 1921, pp. 542, 546 and 565, figs. 593, 619; P. Motture (ed.), Large Bronzes in the Renaissance, New Haven and London, 2003, pp. 282-289