Italian, 17th/ 18th century

The present model is known from a number of casts, which have been variously described and attributed. An example without the base, which was formerly in a Belgian collection, was published by the London dealership David Peel & Co in 1971 as 'circle of Sansovino', while a silver version in the Collegio Alberoni, Piacenza, mounted on an identical base as that of the present lot, has been given to a Roman goldsmith working in the orbit of Michelangelo (Arisi, op. cit.). Another gilt bronze version, and separately its base, were sold at Sotheby's London, 9 July 1987, as lots 73 and 105 with a description as Venetian, circa 1600. On stylistic grounds, an origin of the model in 17th-century Rome is plausible. It is possible, however, that the present cast is of a later date.

RELATED LITERATURE

From Riccio to Gibson: An Exhibition of European Works of Art, cat. David Peel & Co., London, 1971, no. 9; F. Arisi and L. Mezzadri, Are e storia nel Collegio Alberoni di Piacenza, Piacenza, 1990, cat. no. 241, figs. 341-342