The Shouting Horseman
Statuette
ca. 1510-1515 (cast)
ca. 1510-1515 (cast)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
The warrior is shown wearing classical armour and riding bare-back, apparently crying out in the heat of battle. In his right hand he holds the hilt of a sword (the blade is missing), and his left may originally have held a spear or shield.
This bronze was repaired and repatinated some time before 1893, while in the collection of Frédéric Spitzer in Paris. Spitzer was probably responsible for making copies of the rider, as all other known versions are late casts, displayed on a variety of horses. This horse and rider, however, are unique, having been cast separately using the direct lost-wax technique, whereby the original model is lost (so that only one cast is possible).
Riccio (meaning 'Curly-Head') worked primarily in bronze and is acknowledged as the master of the bronze statuette during the late 15th and early 16th centuries. He was active in the humanist circle of the University of Padua, in north-east Italy, and the tense, nervous energy of the horse suggests a connection with a passage on that subject in the treatise on sculpture by Riccio's friend Pomponius Gauricus, published in 1504. Gauricus also describes this type of light cavalry, and Riccio appears to have combined these literary references with his own observations of the Venetian cavalry. Similar riders are seen in Riccio's relief of the Victory of Constantine (Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca' d'Oro, Venice) of about 1500, but the decorative detail relates it to the Paschal Candelabrum which Riccio made for the church of the Santo in Padua, between 1507 and 1515.
This bronze was repaired and repatinated some time before 1893, while in the collection of Frédéric Spitzer in Paris. Spitzer was probably responsible for making copies of the rider, as all other known versions are late casts, displayed on a variety of horses. This horse and rider, however, are unique, having been cast separately using the direct lost-wax technique, whereby the original model is lost (so that only one cast is possible).
Riccio (meaning 'Curly-Head') worked primarily in bronze and is acknowledged as the master of the bronze statuette during the late 15th and early 16th centuries. He was active in the humanist circle of the University of Padua, in north-east Italy, and the tense, nervous energy of the horse suggests a connection with a passage on that subject in the treatise on sculpture by Riccio's friend Pomponius Gauricus, published in 1504. Gauricus also describes this type of light cavalry, and Riccio appears to have combined these literary references with his own observations of the Venetian cavalry. Similar riders are seen in Riccio's relief of the Victory of Constantine (Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca' d'Oro, Venice) of about 1500, but the decorative detail relates it to the Paschal Candelabrum which Riccio made for the church of the Santo in Padua, between 1507 and 1515.
Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
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Title | The Shouting Horseman (popular title) |
Materials and techniques | Cast bronze |
Brief description | Statuette, bronze, Warrior on Horseback or 'the Shouting Horseman', by Andrea Riccio, Italy (Padua), ca.1510-1515 |
Physical description | The warrior wearing armour of an antique fashion, is seated on a pacing horse, his head turned to the right his mouth open in a fierce grimace. His right hand holds the hilt of a broken sword, his left is extended to hold a missing sceptre. The helmet is decorated with shells, children and fantastic monsters. The cuirass has a winged grotesque figure. The horse has a short curling mane and an elaborately knotted tail. The surface is mainly treated by hammering. |
Dimensions |
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Credit line | Salting Bequest |
Object history | From the Salting bequest. |
Historical context | A universally acknowledged masterpiece in bronze, this statuette encapsulates Riccio's attitude to antiquity and to the material of which he was such a master. |
Subjects depicted | |
Summary | The warrior is shown wearing classical armour and riding bare-back, apparently crying out in the heat of battle. In his right hand he holds the hilt of a sword (the blade is missing), and his left may originally have held a spear or shield. This bronze was repaired and repatinated some time before 1893, while in the collection of Frédéric Spitzer in Paris. Spitzer was probably responsible for making copies of the rider, as all other known versions are late casts, displayed on a variety of horses. This horse and rider, however, are unique, having been cast separately using the direct lost-wax technique, whereby the original model is lost (so that only one cast is possible). Riccio (meaning 'Curly-Head') worked primarily in bronze and is acknowledged as the master of the bronze statuette during the late 15th and early 16th centuries. He was active in the humanist circle of the University of Padua, in north-east Italy, and the tense, nervous energy of the horse suggests a connection with a passage on that subject in the treatise on sculpture by Riccio's friend Pomponius Gauricus, published in 1504. Gauricus also describes this type of light cavalry, and Riccio appears to have combined these literary references with his own observations of the Venetian cavalry. Similar riders are seen in Riccio's relief of the Victory of Constantine (Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca' d'Oro, Venice) of about 1500, but the decorative detail relates it to the Paschal Candelabrum which Riccio made for the church of the Santo in Padua, between 1507 and 1515. |
Bibliographic references |
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Collection | |
Accession number | A.88:1, 2-1910 |
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Record created | November 18, 2002 |
Record URL |
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