Italie, Venise, fin XVIe siècle, entourage d'Alessandro Vittoria (1525-1608) Jupiter

Collection d'un aristocrate français

Ch. Avery, A. Radcliffe, Giambologna 1529-1608. Sulptor to the Medici, cat. exp., Londres, 1978, p. 81-82.

This is a very fine and crisp cast with warm brown patina, in very good condition overall. One casting flaw to Jupiter's proper right arm with casting holes visible around the elbow. A few minor dents and casting flaws at several places, and some surface dirt in the crevices. On a later marble base. Good cast which can be highly recommended, from an aristocratic French private collection.
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La composition initiale dont s’est inspiré Vittoria est le Neptune monumental, réalisé entre 1563 et 1567 par Giambologna (1529-1608) pour la fontaine de la Piazza Maggiore à Bologne, et dont une réduction en bronze est conservée au Museo Civico de Bologne  (inv. n° 1503). Le Jupiter de Vittoria présente quelques variantes par rapport à celui de Giambologna, dont les plus significatives sont le bras gauche replié sur sa poitrine, l’aigle sur lequel repose sa jambe droite et la foudre qu'il tient dans la main droite. Les bronzes de Jupiter formèrent par la suite pendant avec ceux de Junon (cf. Victoria and Albert museums, inv. n° A.19-1961), d’après un autre modèle légèrement postérieur de Vittoria, afin d’orner des têtes de paires de chenets. Un autre bronze du même modèle que le nôtre est conservé à Vienne, au Kunsthistoriches Museum (inv. ° 5662), un second au Victoria and Albert museums (inv. n° A. 18-1961) et un autre encore a été vendu par Sotheby’s New York, 27 janvier 2006, lot 461 (adjugé 22 500 $).

Bibliographie comparative:
L. Planiscig, Venezianische Bildhauer der Renaissance, Vienne, 1921, p. 473, fig. 497; La Bellissima Maniera – Alessandro Vittoria e la scultura veneta del Cinquecento, cat. exp. Trente, Castello del Buonconsiglio, 1999, pp.352-353.