Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Sculpture, Room 111, The Gilbert Bayes Gallery

Hercules and the Centaur

Model
1575-1588 (made)
Artist/Maker
Giambologna (maker)
Place of origin
Florence (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 sketch model may be an initial study for the marble group of Hercules and the Centaur in the Loggia dei Lanzi, Florence, which Giambologna completed in 1599. Alternatively, it may be a sketch for the version of the subject in silver, on which he was working in 1576.


Object details

Category
Sculpture
Object type
Model
TitleHercules and the Centaur (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Red wax, on wire armature
Wax
Brief description
Hercules and the Centaur, by Giambologna, wax, Italy (Florence), ca. 1575-88
Physical description
The head and right arm of the Hercules, the left arm and most of the legs of the centaur missing. On a base of wood and lead.
Dimensions
  • Height: 13.97cm
Object history
This sketch model may be an initial study for the marble group of Hercules and the Centaur in the Loggia dei Lanzi, Florence, which Giambologna completed in 1599. Alternatively, it may be a sketch version of the subject in silver, on which he was working in 1576.
Subjects depicted
Centaurs
Hercules
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 sketch model may be an initial study for the marble group of Hercules and the Centaur in the Loggia dei Lanzi, Florence, which Giambologna completed in 1599. Alternatively, it may be a sketch for the version of the subject in silver, on which he was working in 1576.
Bibliographic references
  • Inventory of Art Objects Acquired in the Year 1854. In: Inventory of the Objects in the Art Division of the Museum at South Kensington, Arranged According to the Dates of their Acquisition. Vol I. London: Printed by George E. Eyre and William Spottiswoode for H.M.S.O., 1868, p. 19
  • Maclagan, Eric and Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture. Text. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1932, p. 146
  • Avery, Charles. Giambologna, The Complete Sculpture. Oxford: 1987, pp. 111, 117, cat. 194, p. 276
  • Pope-Hennessy, John. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Volume II: Text. Sixteenth to Twentieth Century. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1964, p. 474
  • Avery, C and Radcliffe, A Giambologna 1529-1608, Sculptor to the Medici, exhibition catalogue, Arts Council of Great Britain, 1978, p.221, cat. no.: 227
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
4126-1854

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Record createdMarch 30, 2005
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O110680/hercules-and-the-centaur-model-giambologna/
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