Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Sculpture, Room 117

Medici Venus

Statuette
late 18th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Zoffoli Workshop (maker)
Place of origin
Rome (made)

This bronze is based on the marble Venus de' Medici (now in the Uffizi, Florence), which was first definitely recorded in 1638 at the Medici Villa in Rome.


Object details

Categories
Access_to_Images 2003
Sculpture
Object type
Statuette
TitleMedici Venus (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Bronze
Brief description
Statuette, bronze, Medici Venus, by the workshop of Giacomo and Giovanni Zoffoli (Italian), Rome, late 18th century
Physical description
Based on the famous antique marble Venus de' Medici (Uffizi, Florence).
Dimensions
  • Height: 34.78cm
Marks and inscriptions
'G.ZOFFOLI.F.' (On base.)
Credit line
Given by Professor Benjamin Rowland, Jr., through Art Fund
Production
Although the bronze is signed, it is unclear whether Giacomo (1731-1785) and Giovanni Zoffoli (1745-1805) were directly involved in its modelling, casting or finishing because other sculptors, such as Vincenzo Pacetti (1746-1820), often made the models in their foundry.
Subject depicted
Venus
Summary
This bronze is based on the marble Venus de' Medici (now in the Uffizi, Florence), which was first definitely recorded in 1638 at the Medici Villa in Rome.
Associated objects
Bibliographic references
  • Binnebeke, Emile van. Bronze sculpture : sculpture from 1500-1800 in the collection of the Boymans-van Beuningen Museum. Rotterdam : Het Museum, 1994, pp.124 & 125, no.34.
  • Nicholas, Penny. Catalogue of European Sculpture in the Ashmolean Museum: 1540 to the Present Day, Vol. I, Italian, Oxford, 1992, pp. 162-67.
  • Honour, Hugh. 'Bronze statuettes by Giacomo and Giovanni Zoffoli' in Connoisseur, CXLVIII, 961, pp. 198-205.
  • The Age of Neo-Classicism, Exhibition catalogue , Arts Council England, Royal Academy of Arts, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1972, pp. 293-95
  • Penny, Nicholas. Taste and the Antique, New Haven and London, 1981, pp. 148-151 and 342-43.
  • Avery, Charles. 'Bronze Statuettes in Woburn Abbey: New Attributions to Taddeo Landini and Giuseppe de Levis', Apollo, CXIX/1, February 1984, pp. 97-103
  • Radcliffe, A.F in Jackson-Stopes, Gervase ed. The Treasure Houses of Britain, 1985, pp. 358-61, cat. no. 285.
Collection
Sculpture Collection
Accession number
A.13-1974

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Record createdJanuary 16, 2004
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O89627/medici-venus-statuette-zoffoli-workshop/
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