Antico was court sculptor to the Gonzaga family, rulers of Mantua. He trained as a goldsmith and developed a sophisticated method of reproducing bronzes. As his name suggests, Antico was inspired by works from antiquity. He based this group on a classical marble of Hercules and Antaeus now in the Palazzo Pitti, Florence.
Physical description
Hercules and Antaeus, bronze figure group. The eyes of both figures are inlaid with silver. The group is fixed to an original oval bronze base without mouldings. The bearded figure of Hercules holds the younger Antaeus aloft.
Place of Origin
Mantua, Italy (made)
Date
1500-1510 (made)
Artist/maker
Antico (Pier Jacopo di Antonio Alari-Bonacolsi), born 1455 - died 1528 (sculptor)
Materials and Techniques
Bronze, with silver gilding in the eyes
Dimensions
Height: 40.8 cm, Height: 39.1 cm figure only, Weight: 6.480 kg, Width: 22 cm, Depth: 14.1 cm
[Statuette] Height: 39.1 cm
Object history note
Given by Dr. W. L. Hildburgh, F. S. A., 1956.
Historical significance: The model derives from the classical marble of Hercules and Antaeus which is today in the courtyard of the Palazzo Pitti in Florence presented to Cosimo I by Pius IV in 1560. Before this it had been in Rome in the Belvedere, where it was installed by Julius II. Although its date of discovery is not known before 1474 to Mantegna, who adapted it for a scene on the vault of the Caniera degli Sposi, completed in that year.
Descriptive line
Group, bronze, Hercules and Antaeus, by Antico, Italy (Mantua), 1500-1510
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Bober, P. P. and Rubinstein, R. O. Renaissance Artists and Antique Sculpture, a Handbook of Sources. Oxford, 1986, p. 173
Ettlinger, Leopold, D. Antonio and Piero Pollaiuolo. Oxford, 1978, p. 147 (cat.no. 13), fig. 20
Howarth, D. 'Charles I, Sculpture and Sculptor's'. In: A. MacGregor (ed.), The Late King's Goods, Oxford University Press, London & Oxford, no. 3, p. 98, fig 48
Trusted, Marjorie, ed. The Making of Sculpture. The Materials and Techniques of European Sculpture. London: 2007, p. 55, pl. 89, 90
Exhibition History
Bonacolsi L'Antico (Palazzo Ducale, Mantua 19/09/2008-06/01/2009)
Isabella D'Este: Fürstin und Mäzenatin der Renaissance (Kunsthistorisches Museum 14/02/1994-24/05/1994)
Splendours of the Gonzaga (Victoria and Albert Museum 02/11/1981-31/01/1982)
Materials
Silver; Bronze
Techniques
Gilding
Subjects depicted
Nudes; Hercules; Classicism; Antaeus
Categories
Sculpture; Myths & Legends
Collection code
SCP
