Lot 241: A BRONZE MODEL OF A PACING HORSE

A BRONZE MODEL OF A PACING HORSE
WORKSHOP OF FRANCESCO FANELLI, SECOND QUARTER 17TH CENTURY
On an oval bronze plinth and a later black marble base
6½ in. (16.5 cm.) high, 8½ in. (21.6 cm.) high with base

Giambologna and his Followers: Sculpture from the Collections of Michael Hall, Miami-Dade College Museum of Art, Freedom Tower, 9 October 2009-20 February 2010.

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
J. Pope-Hennessy, 'Some Bronze Statuettes by Francesco Fanelli,' reproduced in Essays in Italian Sculpture, London, 1968, fig. 190.

Described in 1639 by Abraham van der Doort as 'the one eyed Italian', Fanelli referred to himself as a Florentine, however, the first definite record of his activities is in Genoa in 1608. He was still in Genoa in 1630 but moved shortly thereafter to England as he was being paid a pension by Charles I in 1635.

The fascination the English had with Fanelli must have originally stemmed from the fact that, at the time, his art was considered to be something of a novelty and his appointment as Court Sculptor to Charles I certainly did his reputation no harm. However, it is in looking at his oeuvre with present-day eyes, that it becomes obvious how his bronzes were, and still remain, desirable for far more erudite reasons. Unlike his predecessors Giambologna, Antonio Susini and Pietro Tacca, Fanelli's bronzes are less laboured in their modelling and are instead more spontaneous and vigorous. Fanelli's model is in the collection of the Duke of Portland (Pope-Hennessy, loc. cit.).