Statuette, bronze, Orpheus and Cerberus, Hendrick de Keyser, North Netherlandish, ca. 1610-1615

Orpheus stands gazing upwards and leaning back sharply whilst playing the violin with complete abandon. At his feet sits the three-headed dog Verberus, guardian of Hades, who is captivated by by the magical sounds. Orpheus is hoping that the music will persuade the hell-hound to allow him to enter the underworld to find an bring back his wife Euridice.

The present object can be identified with the 'Orpheus with a dog with three heads by Mr. H.K. or '1 form with the dog with 3 heads with Orpheus by Mr. d.K' in the 1624 inventory of the Delft silversmith Thomas Cruse. Coll. Bassner, Danzig-Zopot, sale 19/11/1929, no. 98. Sale, Lepke, Berlin, 25-26/10/1932, no. 100. Coll. Lord Swansea; with Cyril Humphries, 1971. Bought by the museum in 1972.

Historical significance: In producing small-scale bronzes Hendrick de Keyser was following a distinctive mannerist formula, in particular comparisons may be made with the bronzes by Giambologna. The bronzes he made may have coincided with his work on the monumental tomb of William the Silent in the New Church in Delft, but they also convey Giambologna's principles and ideas relating to the North, although he was never part of the Florentine circle.

The bronze was certainly made for a collector. The close stylistic relationship to the the bronze figure of Mercury in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, which is monogrammed and dated 1631 suggest an attribution to Hendrick de Keyser (1565-1621). The bronze was undoubtedly inspired by the marble statue with the same subject by the South Netherlandish sculptor Pietro Francavilla. This statue, dated 1598, and now in the Louvre, was taken - shortly after its cmpletion in Florence-to the Paris home of Gerolami Gondi, where it was installed at the centre of a fountain. Francavilla entered the service of Henry IV and Maria de ' Medici. Hendrick de Keyser may have made his acquaintance on a trip to Paris and seen the marble figure.

By playing the violin, Orpheus hoped to persuade the three-headed dog Cerberus to allow him to enter the underworld, to find and bring back his wife Eurydice.This bronze is known to have belonged to a Delft silversmith, Thomas Cruse. It was inspired by a marble statue made in 1598 by Pietro Francavilla, one of Giambologna’s main assistants.

A.5-1972