North Italian, probably Padua, early 16th Century

This bronze is one of a number of similar casts derived from a lost antique model which featured a team of harnessed panthers leading Bacchus' chariot. There are similar 16th century variants of the model, with raised right legs and tails wrapped around the back of their legs, including one in the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore (54.38) and one sold in these rooms from the collection of Carter Burden, 18 October 2003, lot 78.