NORTH ITALIAN, LATE 16TH CENTURY | Atlas

On loan to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1984 for exhibition of Venetian and Paduan Bronzes (no.28.1984)

Implement in his proper right hand is missing. Casting flaws include: stable casting crack down his back, lead plugged area behind shoulders, and aperture inside of head. Mottled patina with remains of black lacquer. Rock under proper right foot is later. Original repairs in ankles and proper left hand. Minor chips to base.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Another cast of this figure, in gilt bronze and bearing a celestial globe on his shoulders, is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (2291&A-1855) catalogued as "Italian circa 1600" and a version, previously ascribed to Jacopo Sansovino by Weihrauch, is in the Pushkin Museum, Moscow (Weihrauch, op. cit., p. 266, figs. 2 and 3). The attribution to Sansovino was based on the supposition that a wax model of Atlas, mentioned in the inventory of Tintoretto's studio after his death, was by Jacopo. Tintoretto produced series of studies of a near-identical figure of Atlas, perhaps based on the wax model in his possession. All three of the aforementioned bronzes, including the present statuette, in fact appear to relate to a fragmentary wax model "after Michelangelo" in the Boymans-van Beuningan Museum in Rotterdam (van Binnebeke, op. cit., no. 60, pp. 186-187).

RELATED LITERATURE
Hans R. Weihrauch, 'Italienische Bronzen als Vorbiler deitscher Goldschmiedekunst' in Studien zur Geschichte der Europäschen Plastik. Fesctschrift Theodor Müller, 19 April 1965, Munich;
Emile van Binnebeke, Sculpture from the 1500-1800 in the collection of the Boymans-van Beuningan Museum, Rotterdam, 1994, no. 60, pp. 186-187;
Volker Krahn, Bronzen der Renaissance und des Barock, Herzog-Anton Ulrich Museum, Braunschweig, 1994