Pacing Bull - Italy, 18th century

After a model by Gianbologna (1529–1608)
Pacing Bull
Italy, 18th century
Bronze, on an ebonised wood base
H (totale) 15 x L 11,5 x P 8,2 cm

This fine 18th century bronze statuette depicting a bull is based on an original by the great Florentine sculptor of Flemish origin, Giambologna (1529-1608). Giambologna based his bull on ancient Roman statues and other depictions of the sacrificial animal. Together with a series of other statues by the artist, it exemplifies the influence of the Antique on his oeuvre. Originally Giambologna seems to have invented the statue of The Bull to pair it with an earlier statue he had made of a Lion, itself based on Roman sculptures and images of lions. While Giambologna produced the wax master-model of the statue, it was his talented and renowned pupil Antonio Susini (1580-1624) who created the moulds necessary for casting an edition. Eventually two slightly different models of the Bull were made. The rarer type is heavier build, with a more pronounced dewlap and more extensive tufts of curls hanging down its forehead. This is the type that can be found in the Bargello in Florence. The second, much commoner type has a smoother neck and a slightly smaller head, which is held slightly more erect. It was successively cast by Antonio and Gianfrancesco Susini. ?Soon, this latter type is often found paired with the statue of a Horse, also by Giambologna. This pairing became far more popular and frequent than its original pairing with the Lion and seems to have become standard early on.

The statue of The Bronze Bull, almost immediately became very popular within the circles of the rich and influential Florentine families and even far beyond. It is documented that there was one statuette in the magnificent Villa La Magia in Quarrata, which was owned by Giambologna's most important patrons, the Medici. Their rivals, the influential Florentine-Roman banking family of the Salviati also owned a bronze bull 'by the hand of Susini'. Together with the statuette of the Horse it became one of the most beloved and most widely diffused models of Giambologna and Susini. For example, both were among a group of statuettes sent by the Medici to Henry, Prince of Wales, in 1612. The Horse and the Bull were also cast in Northern Europe where they were particularly favoured, especially in the Netherlands. Together they appear on a table in the foreground of Willem van Haecht's Interior of the Gallery of Cornelis van der Geest.