Workshop of Desiderio da Firenze (FL. 1532-1545) Northern Italian, Padua, mid 16th century

The overall condition is good, with surface dirt and wear consistent with age. There is a loss (possibly an original short pour) at the front edge of the urn. There are various small original holes in the terrace. Part of the back of the terrace is lost, possibly again due to a short pour during casting. There is a small casting flaw at the front of the base running from a small hole. There is particular dirt to the crevices. There are various minor nicks and scratches to the bronze, including to the proper right arm, hand and back. There is a small hole to the top of the head. There are some minor pits to the surface in particular to the back and chest. There are two lacunae to the stem of the proper left horn of the satyr. There are a few specks of paint to the surface.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Statuettes of satyrs are a category of bronzes which have stimulated some of the most intriguing connoisseurship in the history of the small bronze in Northern Italy during the 16th century. The present engaging seated satyr epitomises the attributional vicissitudes of many models made in Padua and Venice during the Renaissance.

The sculptors Andrea Riccio, Severo da Ravenna and Desiderio da Firenze have all been proposed in relation to the present model and its three basic variants. Jeremy Warren (op. cit. pp. 304-305) lists 24 surviving bronzes in four groups. The present bronze is a new addition to this corpus that should be included in the smallest of the groupings and provides an enlightening comparison to the closest known versions which are now in the Musée du Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and The Wallace Collection, London.

There is general agreement that these early 16th century satyrs derive from Riccio's masterpiece, the bronze Paschal candlestick made for the Basilica di Sant'Antonio (1507-1516) which includes bound satyrs. From these figures Riccio himself developed individual satyr statuettes, perhaps the finest of which is the seated drinking satyr in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (KK 5539) (Allen and Motture, op.cit., pp.158-163, no. 10). Here the superb observation of the heavy eyelids of the old inebriated satyr over indulging in another drink marks out the hand of the master. 

The first group of the seated satyr shows the mythological creature on the ground with his legs spread out. The second group shows him on the ground or seated on a low tree stump or shell, but with his legs crossed. The third group also depicts the satyr with his legs crossed with a bowl in his right hand and a candle-holder in the form of a cornucopia in his left hand. The fourth group is represented by the present cast and those three mentioned above. Within these groupings there are slight variations in the position of the arms or legs and the particular attributes, but the salient point to observe is that they fundamentally all derive from the same torso whose invention was Riccio's.

Warren (op. cit.) gives the most recent and fullest account of the present model. He observes that this fourth group is both the most consistent, but also the furthest from the ultimate model by Riccio.  One important observation is that only the Metropolitan Museum cast has the detail of the little mouse on the tree stump also seen in the present cast, but in a slightly different position. Warren and others have related many of these seated satyrs to the fine bronze of Pan Listening to Echo in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford and, therefore, propose an attribution of these satyrs to Desiderio da Firenze and his workshop. For a fuller discussion on Desiderio see lot 55.

RELATED LITERATURE
S. Cristanetti et al, Recent Acquisitions made to the Robert H. Smith Collection of Renaissance Bronzes, The Burlington Magazine, 2007, pp 20-26, no. 58; D. Allen and P. Motture, Andrea Riccio: Renaissance master of bronze, New York, 2008, pp.158-163, no. 10; J. Warren, The Wallace Collection. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture, London, 2016, vol. 1, pp. 300-305, no. 62