North Italian, probably Venice, 16th century

Our centaur would originally have held a trumpet or horn in his left hand, now lost, yet the expressive features of the centaur's face are clear. The centaur raises his head, puffs out his cheeks and sounds a triumphant blast. He confidently marches over the discarded armour and shield of the vanquished foe, his right hand casually resting on his hip. The iconography of the mythological centaur was much favoured in humanistic circles from the 16th century and Renaissance artists drew inspiration for the depiction of centaurs from antique sarcophagi, such as the sarcophagus with Nereids in the Louvre (Inv. MA342).

The treatment of the present centaur’s hair in neat, regular curls and the symmetrical tufts of the hair around his waist, as well as the thick-set proportions and rounded anatomy, point to a sculptor active in the circle of the Antonio and Tullio Lombardo. It is likely that our centaur would have formed a pair with a pendant centaur or other triumphal figures, perhaps commissioned for a specific military victory.

The present lot is the subject of an expertise by Dottssa Francesca Petrucci, dated July 2017.

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