Sculpture
- Place of origin:
- Date:
- Artist/Maker:
Tribolo, Niccolò, born 1500 - died 1550 (artist)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Museum number:
- Gallery location:
British Galleries, room 122g, case 1
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Object Type
The composition, probably based on figures made for a fountain, is known in a number of variants and was evidently popular as a garden decoration.
Time
The motif of children playing with a goose is of classical origin. The group relates stylistically to figures produced around 1545 by Niccolò Tribolo and Pierino da Vinci, who were both specialists at modelling children. However, it was made by a reproductive technique, and tests indicated that the sculpture was fired less than 150 years ago, probably not long before it was acquired and sketched by Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898). This type of image has clearly appealed to different western cultures over an extensive period.
Materials & Making
The group was made from moulded clay, which was then fired to form the more permanent terracotta. This method of production allows replicas to be made quickly and comparatively easily. Expansion of air or water during firing can cause breakage, so the clay group was first left to dry as much as possible. The even thickness of the wall of this hollow sculpture also helped to regulate water loss, further reducing the risk of breakage. Cast-lines were removed and details sharpened in the 'leather-hard' clay before firing.
Physical description
Two naked figures of a boy and a girl are posed frontally standing side by side against a tree stump. A goose is supported on the girl's back.
Place of Origin
Florence, Italy (made)
Date
1840-1860 (made)
Artist/maker
Tribolo, Niccolò, born 1500 - died 1550 (artist)
Materials and Techniques
Cast terracotta
Dimensions
Height: 70 cm, Width: 35 cm, Depth: 23 cm
Object history note
Possibly based on figures by Niccolo Tribolo (probably born in Florence, Italy, 1500, probably died there in 1550) and Pierino da Vinci (born in Vinci, Italy, about 1529, died in Pisa, Italy, 1553)
Probably made in Florence, Italy.
Historical context note
The group is known in a number of variants and was evidently popular as garden decoration. The motif of children playing with a goose is of classical origin.
Descriptive line
Boy and Girl with Goose
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Inventory of Art Objects Acquired in the Year 1863 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. 35
Maclagan, Eric and Longhurst, Margaret H. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture. Text. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1932, pp. 142, 143
Raggio, Olga. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Art Bulletin. Vol. L, 1968, p. 103
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, pp. 437, 38
Holderbaum, James. 'Recuperi moderni di sculture di Pierino da Vinci, e l'identificazione di un ritratto del Branzino che raffigura Pierino con la sua statua di Bacco', in: Cianchi, Marco (ed), Pierino da Vinci: atti della giornata di studi. Florence, 1995, pp. 17-23, fig. 25.
Exhibition History
Pattern and Design (1480-1980) (Victoria and Albert Museum 03/07/1983-17/03/2008)
Labels and date
British Galleries:
AN ARTIST'S SKETCHES IN THE MUSEUM
From about 1860 the Museum was actively collecting and displaying European Medieval and Renaissance decorative arts and sculpture. This small figure group was bought in 1863 for the South Kensington Museum and thought at the time to have been made in about 1550. In the 1860s the artist Edward Burne-Jones studied works of art in museum collections to improve his drawing skills. This is his sketch of the terracotta group, made on one of his visits to the Museum. [27/03/2003]
Materials
Terracotta
Techniques
Casting
Subjects depicted
Figures; Children; Goose
Categories
British Galleries; Sculpture
Collection code
SCP
