ITALIAN, FLORENCE OR VENETO, SECOND HALF 16TH CENTURY | RECLINING CLEOPATRA

Possibly based on the influential ancient Roman marble representing the Sleeping Ariadne (or Cleopatra), this elegant bronze follows the tradition of bronzes in the antique style established by early 16th-century North Italian sculptors such as Andrea Riccio and Antico (see Frankfurt cat., op. cit., pp. 414-425). In the later 16th century the subject of a reclining female nude became popular with Mannerist sculptors, notably Giambologna, whose Sleeping Nymph bears some resemblance to the present bronze - note the clutching of the drapery in both models. Two further casts of the present model have appeared on the market; one at Sotheby's New York, 31 May 1990 (lot 93) and another sold as part of the Cyril Humphris Collection, Sotheby's New York, 11 January 1995 (lot 83).

RELATED LITERATURE

C. Avery and A. Radcliffe, Giambologna (1529-1608), Sculptor to the Medici, exh. cat. Edinburgh, London and Vienna, 1978, nos. 69-74; Natur und Antike in der Renaissance, exh. cat. Liebieghaus, Frankfurt am Main, 1985