Bronze Atlas with a natural patina. Naked and kneeling, the - Lot 303

Lot n° 303
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Estimation :
5000 - 7000 EUR
Bronze Atlas with a natural patina. Naked and kneeling, the - Lot 303
Bronze Atlas with a natural patina. Naked and kneeling, the Titan bends his back to support on his shoulder a sphere representing the World (missing here). Face Workshop of Severo Calzetta da Ravenna (Ravenna 1465/1475 Ravenna 1538), Veneto, Padua? First third of the 16th century H.: 11.5 cm (visible damage) The depiction of the giant Atlas, who bears the entire sky and all its stars on his shoulders (Ovid, Metamorphoses, IV, 653), is part of a larger ensemble, the complete set of which is preserved at the Frick Collection in New York (inv. no. 1915.2.24) in the form of an inkwell and an oil lamp. Other versions are all incomplete, notably the one at the Bode Museum in Berlin (inv. no. M 39/100), which consists only of the lamp portion. Another example is a piece from the Count d’Yanville collection that went on sale on February 27, 1907 (Chevalier-Bivort auction, Paris-Drouot, lot 67), which depicts only the Titan. The attribution of this bronze has been the subject of much debate. The inkwell in the Frick Collection, which comes from the Spitzer Collection, was sold in Paris in 1893 to John Edward Taylor and acquired in 1915. It was attributed to Riccio by the experts at the October 9, 1912, auction at Christie’s (lot 21). However, studies by Charles Avery and Anthony Radcliffe have established a different attribution for the New York inkwell. It is striking to note the similarity to Severo da Ravenna’s “Fig of the Satyr,” a version of which is housed at the Louvre Museum; the composition is similar, as are the face and beard. The lid of the inkwell in the Frick Collection is also compared to a vase by Severo of Ravenna housed at the Bargello Museum in Florence, which bears the same decorative motifs. Variations can be observed in the various known versions, notably in the position of the right leg and foot, which is sometimes raised, giving the impression of floating. All these comparisons, which have revealed significant similarities and a few differences, have enabled art historians to include this model of Atlas in the corpus of the great sculptor Severo da Ravenna. Works consulted: V. Krahn, *Bronzetti Veneziani: Die venezianischen Kleinbronzen der Renaissance aus dem Bode-Museum Berlin*, 2003, cat. 15, pp. 72–74 P. Malgouyres, From Filarete to Riccio: Italian Bronze Sculptures of the Renaissance (1430–1550), The Louvre Museum Collection, 2020, pp. 195–212. Expert: Benoît BERTRAND
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