Meleager and the Calydonian boar thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Sculpture, Room 111, The Gilbert Bayes Gallery

Meleager and the Calydonian boar

Relief
ca. 1560 (made)
Artist/Maker
Cobaert, Jacob Cornelisz (probably)
Porta, Guglielmo Della (after)
Place of origin
Italy (made)

For some sculptural commissions, a leading artist such as Giambologna made only the model and the work was executed by others. Ideas were also transmitted by terracotta models, plaquettes and engravings, as well as by decorative objects for which sculptors had provided designs.This subject of this terracotta is based on a mythological scene from the Metamorphoses of Ovid. It was made by Jacob Cornelisz Cobaert after designs by the sculptor Guglielmo della Porta. Cobaert was born in the Netherlands but settled in Rome in the 1570s, where he became a pupil and assistant of della Porta. He excelled at small-scale sculpture and his bronze reliefs were much admired. Their designs were disseminated by terracotta casts made for use by goldsmiths.


Object details

Category
Sculpture
Object type
Relief
TitleMeleager and the Calydonian boar (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Terracotta
Terracotta
Brief description
Terracotta relief depicting Meleager and the Calydonian boar, Italy, ca. 1560.
Physical description
Oval terracotta relief depicting Meleager and the Caledonioan boar. To the right in a wooded landscape is a wild boar pursued by horsemen and hounds, behind it on foot is Meleager, in a
short cloak with a spearthrust into the boar's shoulder. behind him stands Atalanta who has just fired her bow at the animal. In the background Meleager presents the boar's head to Atalanta as a trophy.
Dimensions
  • Height: 5.5in
  • Width: 9.75cm
Credit line
Given by Miss F. le M. Tupper
Subjects depicted
Wild Boar
Meleager
Atalanta
Summary
For some sculptural commissions, a leading artist such as Giambologna made only the model and the work was executed by others. Ideas were also transmitted by terracotta models, plaquettes and engravings, as well as by decorative objects for which sculptors had provided designs.This subject of this terracotta is based on a mythological scene from the Metamorphoses of Ovid. It was made by Jacob Cornelisz Cobaert after designs by the sculptor Guglielmo della Porta. Cobaert was born in the Netherlands but settled in Rome in the 1570s, where he became a pupil and assistant of della Porta. He excelled at small-scale sculpture and his bronze reliefs were much admired. Their designs were disseminated by terracotta casts made for use by goldsmiths.
Bibliographic references
  • Theuerkauff, C. Johann Leonhard Baur, a German 'Kleinmeister' of the baroque. Apollo. 123, 1986. pp. 274-279. Ge. 39.
  • Montagu, J. Gold, silver and bronze, metal sculpture of the Roman Baroque. New Heaven, 1996. p. 221. note. 76.
  • Gramber, W. Vier Zeichnungen des Guglielmo della Porta zu seiner Serie mythologischer Reliefs.Jahrbuch der Hamburger Kunstsammlungen. XIII. 1968. pp. 68-94.
  • Cf. Plon, E. Benvenuto Cellini, orfévre, medailleur, sculpteur : recherches sur sa vie, sur son oeuvre et sur les pièces qui lui sont attribuées. Paris, 1883. p. 218.
  • Cf. Baglione, G. Le vite de' pittori, scultori et architetti dal ponteficato di Gregorio XIII del 1572 in fino a'tempi di Papa Urbano Ottavo nel 1642. Rome, 1642. p. 94.
  • Cf. Bertolotti, A. Artisti lombardi a Roma nei secoli XV, XVI e XVII: studi e eicerche negli archivi romani. II. 1881. pp. 120 ff.
  • Berliner. In: Archiv für Medaillen- und Plakettenkunde. vol. III. 1922. pp. 134-135.
  • Cf. Thieme, U., Becker, F., eds. Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart. VII. Leipzig, 1922. pp. 134-145.
  • Cf. Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Carvings in Ivory. London: Published under the Authority of the Board of Education, 1929. Part II. p. 104.
  • Victoria and Albert Museum, Review of the Principal Acquisitions During the Year 1928. London. pl. 2. p. 2.
  • Cf. Planiscig, L. Die Estensische Kunstsammlung, Band I, Skulpturen und Plastiken des Mittelalters und der Renaissance. Katalog. Wien, Kunstverlag Anton Schroll & Co., 1919. no. 395.
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
A.27-1928

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Record createdNovember 18, 2004
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O107349/meleager-and-the-calydonian-boar-relief-cobaert-jacob-cornelisz/
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