Lot 427: AN ITALIAN BRONZE FIGURE OF THE DRAGON LADON, FROM THE WORKSHOP OF GIANFRANCESCO SUSINI (1585-CA. 1653), AFTER A MODEL BY PIETRO TACCA (1557-1640), SECOND QUARTER 17TH CENTURY

AN ITALIAN BRONZE FIGURE OF THE DRAGON LADON, FROM THE WORKSHOP OF GIANFRANCESCO SUSINI (1585-CA. 1653), AFTER A MODEL BY PIETRO TACCA (1557-1640), SECOND QUARTER 17TH CENTURY light olive-brown patina with traces of red-gold translucent varnish and chocolate-brown lacquer, upon later black marble base. height 10 1/4 in., 26 cm

San Francisco, M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, Renaissance and Baroque Bronzes from the Abbott Guggenheim Collection, 3 March-11 September 1988, cat. no. 32

L. Camins, Renaissance and Baroque Bronzes from the Abbott Guggenheim Collection, San Francisco, 1988, no. 32, pp. 94-95
M. H. Schwartz (ed.), European Sculpture from the Abbott Guggenheim Collection, New York, 2008, no. 31, pp. 74-75

Kenneth Jay Lane Collection
Sotheby Parke-Bernet, New York, October 21-22, 1977, lot 456

In order to complete his eleventh labor, Hercules subdued the guardian of the golden apples in the Garden of the Hesperides, the dragon Ladon. A group owned by Louis XIV, now in the Louvre, shows the present model together with the figure of Hercules as it must have been conceived (Les Bronzes de la Couronne, op. cit., no. 58, pp. 89-90). The figure of Hercules from that group is seen alone in other versions, such as one in the Bargello (Avery and Radcliffe, op. cit., no. 90), and the type was mentioned in a bill of lading for bronzes made by Pietro Tacca and sent to Henry Prince of Wales in 1612. With its strong dependence on the figure of Samson of Giambologna's Samson Slaying a Philistine in the Victoria and Albert (A.7-1954), it is possible the design originates earlier. Another group of both figures was offered at Sotheby's London, July 6, 1995, lot 66. The modeling and finish of the present bronze is consistent with the early 17th century workshop of Gianfrancesco Susini.

RELATED LITERATURE

C. Avery and A. Radcliffe, Giambologna. Sculptor to the Medici (exh. cat.), Edinburgh, London, Vienna, 1978, no.84
Les Bronzes de la Couronne (exh. cat.), Musée du Louvre, Paris, 1999