LOT DETAILS

Materials:

brown patinated bronze; on a Boulle marquetry ebonized wood and brass base

Size Notes:

H. (bronze) 57 cm; 22 in ; (base) 19,5 x 31,5 x 31,5 cm, 7 by 12 1/5 by 12 1/5 in.

Edition:

It was undoubtedly his time in Rome that sparked Anguiers interest in the representation of human character and its expression: the affetti, a theme for discussion among circles of theoreticians and expatriate artists based in Rome, including Poussin, Duquesnoy and Domenichino. Anguier may also have known the series of Gods and Goddesses painted in 1526 by Rosso Fiorentino, disseminated through the engravings of Jacopo Caraglio (1500-1565) and Jacob Binck (1500-1567) (fig. 1). Or could it even have been the iconographic programme of Francesco I de Medicis Studiolo in Florence (circa 1570-75) that inspired Anguier to create a series of deities linking the four elements (hot, cold, wet and dry) to the four humours (choleric, melancholic, sanguine and phlegmatic)?

Description:

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Markings:

The series of bronze deities devised by Michel Anguier in 1652 marks a crucial stage in the evolution of sculpture: this was the moment when independent bronze figures, intended for private enjoyment and for display in collectors cabinets, were first created. It was the beginning of the Golden age of French bronzes.