Giambologna

Giovanni Bologna. 1529-1608. Florence, Italy. Italian Baroque period. Born at at Douai, in Picardy, a city in northern France, which then belonged to Flanders; he was originally named Jean Boulogne, which was converted into Giambologna when he came to Italy.
In 1548, Giambologna came to Rome, to study the art and architecture found in Italy. From Rome he went to Florence in 1553, although this date may not be accurate, which remained his permanent residence. Here, he found a patron in Bernado Vecchietti, a wealthy banker, who introduced Giambologna to Prince Francesco, the heir to the Medici fortune and name. Francesco Medici remained one of his most important patrons throughout his career as an artist, commissioning such work as the Fountain of Neptune and The Medici Mercury . In Florence, he was further influenced by classical roman sculptures, as well as by Michelangelo, who was considered by many at this time to be the greatest sculptor of this time. It is known from various documents that one of Giambologna's goals was to surpass Michelangelo as a great sculptor; however, it is difficult to ascertain whether he eventually did or did not surpass him.

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Rape of the Sabine Women

Marble, 410 cm.

The Rape of A Sabine illustrates part of the violent myth of the founding of Rome by Romulus and his followers. Romulus was one of the sons of Rhea Silvia, who placed him and his brother, Remus, in a basket to be sent down the river, so that they would not be killed by her brother. They were rescued and nursed by a she wolf, then found by a shepherd, who raised them. When Romulus grew older, he founded a settlement on top of Palatine Hill, allegedly in the place where the she-wolf had saved him, with a group of men that followed him; however, the men needed women to increase their population. According to this story, there were originally two groups of people in the region of Rome: the Sabines and the shepherd-warriors who followed Romulus. Thus, Romulus invited the neighboring Sabines to a festival, in which he and his men stole their women and made them their wives. Depending on the source of the story, the Sabines either agreed directly to make Romulus their king, or else a few more wars ensued, all of which the Sabines lost, and then the Sabines agreed to support Romulus as their king. This story is largely believed to be myth because it is very unlikely that there was actually a king named Romulus, since there are not any concrete documents referring to him. However, the Sabines are known to have lived in this region during the time that Rome was founded.

In spite of the fact that this sculpture is known as The Rape of a Sabine, there are no identifying marks or symbols to lead the viewer to identify the figures. In fact, it was not until a few days after the sculpture was put on display that it even acquired a name. In a letter to his patron, Giambologna stated that this was a work embodying this myth; however, also in this letter, Giambologna established that he did not design this work of art with any specific historical or mythical events in mind. It was originally meant to be a compositional exercise in which he integrated three dynamic figures; a feat Michelangelo was never able to perform. Furthermore, to insure that the viewers who would see this work of art would be able to identify it, directly beneath it there is a narrative bronze relief, which depicts the entire story of the foundation of Rome.

An interesting aspect of this sculpture is that it is meant to be viewed from all angles. Before this work of art, there had never been a sculpture that did not have a focus, or a specific angle from which it was supposed to be viewed. This sculpture, in contrast, was designed with the intention of making the viewer examine it from every direction. When the face of the Roman is visible, the expressions of either of the Sabines are not, and visa versa; thus, the viewer is forced to take in the sculpture from all 360 degrees.

The Rape of a Sabine was a logical development from the sculptures executed during the Renaissance, specifically the ones designed by Michelangelo. Giambologna succeeded in constructing a work of art that not only has three active and raised figures, but also a work of art that does not have one preponderant angle to view it from. Giambologna successfully fulfilled Michelangelo's recommendations for how a sculpture should be created, and then pushed them further, with the dynamism found in this work. Although it is impossible to state whether Giambologna surpassed Michelangelo as a sculptor, it is certain that he is at least on the same level.

The Rape of a Sabine was a logical development from the sculptures executed during the Renaissance, specifically the ones designed by Michelangelo. Giambologna succeeded in constructing a work of art that not only has three active and raised figures, but also a work of art that does not have one preponderant angle to view it from. Giambologna successfully fulfilled Michelangelo's recommendations for how a sculpture should be created, and then pushed them further, with the dynamism found in this work. Although it is impossible to state whether Giambologna surpassed Michelangelo as a sculptor, it is certain that he is at least on the same level.

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Hercules and the Centaur

By Giambologna. Marble, 269 cm.

This looks extremely uncomfortable for the poor centaur. The way Hercules' club is raised menacingly, it looks as though it will quickly get worse.
This is a really great work, and it takes several strolls around the sculpture to come to grips with it. Giambologna was very much into works for which there is no "front." You can, and in some cases must, view the sculpture from many angles.

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Perseus beheading Medusa

Benvenuto Cellini's (1500-1571) Perseo at the Loggia dei Lanzi, Florence is one of the trasures of Florence. It is a 18 feet high bronze.

"Medusa" was a Gorgon and originally a beautiful maiden, but she desecrated the goddess Athena's temple by sleeping there with Poseidon. Outraged, Athena turned Medusa's hair into living snakes and any man who looked upon her face would be turned into stone.

Perseus, in Greek mythology, was the son of Zeus and Danaë. His grandfather, Acrisius, had been warned by an oracle that his grandson would kill him and therefore he put Perseus (his grandson) and his mother in a chest and threw it into the sea. It drifted to Seriphus, where King Polydectes befriended the mother and child. After a time Polydectes fell in love with Danaë (the mother) but was embarrassed by the presence of her now full-grown son. He sent Perseus to fetch the head of the Gorgon Medusa, thinking that Perseus would die in the attempt.

The gods, however, loved Perseus. Hermes gave him a curved sword and winged sandals, and Athena (who had her own run-ins with Medusa earlier) gave him a mirrorlike shield, and Hades a helmet that made Perseus invisible. Thus armed, Perseus slew Medusa. While fleeing the other Gorgons (Medusa's sisters) Perseus asked Atlas for help. Atlas refused, and Perseus, by means of the Medusa head, promptly turned him into a mountain of stone.

On his way home Perseus rescued Andromeda from a sea monster and married her. When he arrived in Seriphus, he killed Polydectes (that wicked guy that was making the moves on his mother) and his followers. He then gave the Medusa head to Athena. He went with his mother and his wife to Argos. There, while competing in a discus contest, Perseus accidentally killed his grandfather. Thus the prophecy was fulfilled.

Perseus was the father of Electryon, who was the grandfather of Hercules.

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The Neptune Statue

Bartolomeo Ammannati's (1511-1592) famous Neptune fountain (Marble, 18 feet). Ammannati was an aprentice of Michelangelo. The Tritons and the life-size water nymphs in bronze are by Giambologna..

Neptune is in a car, drawn by four marine horses. At his feet, seated in a shell, are three Tritons; and on the four higher elevations of the fountain, but subservient to the great marine god, are two male and two female sea deities, in bronze, larger than life. Innumerable lesser statues, with varied shells, and other ornaments, fill and crowd the whole. The Neptune is a colossal statue of nearly eighteen feet in height, a vast and bulky figure, with a grim and surly face, presenting no visible action, except a slight inclination to one side, and a strong look of jealousy at the rival size of his surrounding attendants. Cosimo de' Medici, the enlightened and powerful ruler of Florence, was determined to have a statue of Neptune. His aims of expansion and greatness led him to build a fleet of galleys which would make Florence a naval power. He desperately wanted a statue of the god of the sea in the city centre.

There is a story of the quarrel between Benvenuto Cellini and Baccio Bandinelli who both wanted to sculpt the block of Apuan marble which Cosimo I de' Medici ordered to be sent from the Apuan Alps to be sculpted into an enormous image of the god of the sea. With the support of Cosimo's wife, Eleonora, the grand duchess, the task was given to Bandinelli. He, however, died and so it was subsequently entrusted to Bartolomeo Ammannati.

Upon hearing this news, Cellini, with his usual caustic wit, exclaimed, "Poor marble! It was bad enough to have been put into Bandinelli's hands but a hundred times worse to fall prey to those of Ammannati". Bartolomeo Ammannati finished the work but it seems it didn't meet with Michelangelo's approval who summarised his criticism with the following sententious remark, "Oh poor Ammannati, what a beautiful piece of marble you've ruined".

The statue has been vandalized several times in history. It must be said that the episodes of vandalism are not to be attributed only to the present. In fact, at the end of the sixteenth century the fountain was treated as a sort of wash-tub for laundering clothes. There is still a marble plaque on the wall of Palazzo Vecchio displaying the ordinance of the 'Otto di Guardia e Balia' (the local police force of the time) which warns, "Around this fountain measuring twenty ells let nobody dare to leave any kind of rubbish, wash in it inkpots, clothes or any other thing, nor throw in wood or other rubbish, under penalty of four ducats and the judgement of their Lordships".

Regarding the night of 25th January 1580, the chronicler Lapini writes, "... the beautiful fountain in Piazza del Duca was damaged and of all the decorations only the four bronze figures and their satyrs were all that remained". A proclamation invited the people to denounce the thieves but it made no difference and the fountain stayed as it was.

Another theft took place in 1830 during Carnival. A group of masked individuals gathered round the fountain and stole a bronze satyr hiding it under the clothes of a deformed Pulcinella. It was never found again and was later replaced with another satyr sculpted by Giovanni Pazzi.

It is interesting to note that the bronze statues which decorate the fountain (satyrs, tritons and nereids), the work of the Flemish artist Jean de Boulogne (Giambologna), have always been much more popular than the statue of Neptune itself.

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Hercules and Caco

By Baccio Bandinelli.

According to the myth, Cacus was a centaur who lived in a deep cave in the valley between the Palatine and the Aventine: he stole the two finest bulls of Heracles, by dragging them backwards by their tails into his lair. Heracles noticed that the cattle were missing and searched in vain for them. He had decided to move on with the remaining herd when the bulls hungrily lowed and Heracles was able to trace the cave where they were kept. He was so angry that he battered Cacus' face to pulp and he went on hitting him well after his death. When Dante visited Rome the Aventine was abandoned (with the exception of the monasteries of S. Sabina and S. Alessio). The arches of the walls built by the Romans on the southern steep corner of the hill were covered by spontaneous vegetation: they had the appearance of cave entrances. The episodes narrated in the poem became so widely known in Florence that a gigantic statue inspired by Dante's description of Hercules and Cacus was put (and still is) at the entrance of Palazzo Vecchio, opposite the statue (now a copy) of Michelangelo's David.

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