Attributed to Ferdinando Tacca, After a Model by François Duquesnoy, Italy, Florence, second half 17th century

With Daniel Katz, Ltd., London;

From whom acquired by the late collector.

This charming composition, depicting a sleeping putto, is an iteration of a model first conceived by the Flemish sculptor, François Duquesnoy. Duquesnoy was known for his softly modeled putti, depicted with plump, protruding bellies and playfully tousled hair, often shown either peacefully sleeping or in the midst of a bacchanal.

The present model shows a close affinity to Duquesnoy's Enfant couché sur le dos. Two versions of this composition, one in ivory and the other in terracotta, are noted in Boudon-Machuel's extensive catalogue on the artist. She also notes that, according to a 1675 inventory, a variant of this work was in the collection of Cardinal Leopoldo de' Medici (1617 - 1675).¹

The present statuette may have been cast in the workshop of the Florentine baroque sculptor, Fernando Tacca. This connection to Tacca is supported by the rich chocolate-brown patina, and the distinctive, undulating lines of punching seen along the edge of the base. This treatment, which Radcliffe has described as "quasi-naturalistic way and worked with sinuous convoluted tracks of unusually heavy punching"² is a hallmark of Tacca's work.

¹M. Boudon-Machuel, François Duquesnoy 1597 - 1643, Paris 2005, p. 304, cat. no. 78.

²A. Radcliffe, 'Ferdinando Tacca, the missing link in Florentine baroque bronzes', in Kunst des Barock in der Toskana: Studien zur Kunst unter der letzen Medici, H. Keutner ed., Munich1976, pp. 14-23.