Workshop of Barthélémy Prieur (circa 1536-1611)

As a promising young sculptor with a prodigious talent, in the 1550s Barthélémy Prieur travelled to Italy to complete his training, returning to his native France to settle in Paris in 1571. There he soon started working for several illustrious patrons, a success that culminated in 1591, when he was appointed sculptor to King Henri IV. The monarch is known to have praised Prieur's small bronzes, and it is likely that the artist had access to the royal collection's bronze models by Giambologna (1529-1608), whose Pacing Bull may have provided the inspiration for the present work. The first great master of exquisite bronze statuettes to have worked in Giambologna's tradition in France, Prieur has since been highly sought-after by collectors. The high finish of the present bronze and the visible traces of a rich red lacquer patina allow us to place it amongst Prieur's group of small-scale bronzes.

RELATED LITERATURE
G. Bresc-Bautier, G. Scherf and J.D. Draper (eds.), Cast in Bronze. French Sculpture from Renaissance to Revolution, exh. cat. Musée du Louvre, Paris, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Paris, 2009