Lot 66: After a model by Michel Anguier (c. 1612-1686) French, Paris, second half 17th century , Mars qui quitte ses armes (Mars discarding his armour) bronze

bronze

measurements note 55cm., 21 5/8 in.

The present bronze of Mars, the god of war, discarding his armour is a rare cast of one of the models of Michel Anguier's seminal series of seven bronze gods and goddesses. Anguier conceived this group at the height of his career in 1652 and his maturity is evidenced in the bronze's powerful composition and detailed modelling. First mention of the model for Mars was made in Guillet de Saint-Georges' biography of Anguier delivered to the French Academy in 1690. Guillet describes the series as 'un Jupiter foudroyant, une Juno jalouse, un Neptune agité, une Amphitrite tranquille, un Pluton mélancolique, un Mars qui quitte ses armes et une Cérès éplorée.' These characterisations of the gods imply that each represents a specific emotion, a view extrapolated by Ian Wardropper in his 1976 article on the series. Anguier's representation of these emotions was influenced by his decade-long sojourn in Rome. The more passionate gods of the series clearly reflect Anguier's affiliation with the workshops of Alessandro Algardi and Gianlorenzo Bernini. The calmness of Mars, however, references to the languid composition of Michelangelo's Christ in the church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva and another bronze of Mars by Tiziano Aspetti (Frick Collection, 1916.2.56). But regardless of these Mannerist inspirations, Mars' soft mouth, subtle beard, broad nose and frown are closer to Algardi's male ideal than any of the other gods. What the Mars proves is that, once returned to Paris in 1651, Anguier was able to take what he needed from the sculptures he had seen.

The present bronze compares well to the other prominent casts of the Mars. At 54.5 centimetres tall it is of the same size as the bronze mentioned by Guillet in 1690, the example that was acquired in 1699 for August the Strong's collections in Dresden and the version from the Fine Arts museum in Valenciennes. The latter is currently on display with the rest of the series at the Bronzes Français exhibition at the Louvre and demonstrates the same fine finish. The sculptor has paid great attention to defining the different textures in the armour both before and after casting, which is equally evident from the hair and modelling of the head and neck. All of the versions rest on a hexagonal base that directs the principal viewpoints for the figure. Two more casts of the model are at St. Petersburg's Hermitage and at Tatton Park, Cheshire. Like August the Strong, other important collectors enriched their cabinets with casts of Anguier's gods and goddesses. Around 1700 Louis XIV, François Girardon and Pierre Crozat all held several of the bronzes from the Anguier's series in their collection. A generation later the sculptor's graceful and lively style appealed to many Rococo collectors, which inspired a surge of reproductions in several media. RELATED LITERATURE
French Bronzes. From the Renaissance to the Age of the Enlightenment, ex. cat. Musée du Louvre, Paris 2008, pp. 220-221, no. 61b; I. Wardropper, 'Michel Anguier's series of bronze gods and goddesses: a re-examinition' in Marsyas, no. 18 (1976), pp. 23-36; The Splendor of Dresden, ex. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1978, pp. 201-2, no. 510; Les Bronzes de la Couronne, ex. cat. Musée du Louvre, Paris, 1999, p. 163, no. 283; A. Gibbon, Bronzes Français du Grand Siècle, Paris, 1985, pp. 19-23; B. Black and H.-W. Nadeau, Michel Anguier's Pluto: The Marble of 1669, London, 1990