Renaissance Animal Sculptures

Marble lion white marble France, probably Périgord, 17th century Small marble lion wearing a coat of arms pendant with the engraved date, ...

very big and massive bronze door knocker, German or maybe Italian in origin, 16-17th century, amazing green original patina to the face, some scares and dings to the face which gives...

Italian Alabaster Figure of the Medici Lion Late 19th century Italian carved alabaster 'Grand Tour' souvenir sculpture, after the antique, "The Medici Lion". Carved alabaster mode...

Griffin head Italy, 16th century On a modern metal stand Measures: 20 x 29 x 21 cm (without the stand) The griffin is a legendary creature with the body of a lion, the head an...

Calzetta Da Ravenna (Attivo Tra IL 1496 E IL 1543 circa) Severo. Circle of. Candlestick depicting a kneeling satyr. The model of the present bronze is the ""kneeling satyr"" attributed to Severo Calzetta da Ravenna, one of the main Paduan bronze sculptors of the first half of the 16th century, whose figure was rediscovered by Planiscig in 1935 (L. Planiscig, ""Severo da Ravenna...

Antique Tiffany & Co number 2114 bronze sculpture portraying a scene from Quentin Durward. Written by Walter Scott and published in 1823, Quentin Durward is the story of a young Scottish archer who journeys to France and upon meeting Louis XI enters the service of the monarch. The novel was immensely popular in both France and Britain. Gechter depicts the moment when Durward saves Louis whilst out hunting. Louis has dismounted to attack the boar, but slips in the mud. Durward, responding to the call of Louis' hunting horn, is on hand to spear the boar, thus winning Louis' favour. Originally designed by Jean-François-Théodore Gechter, this sculpture is signed on the reverse edge Duchoiselle and marked Tiffany & Co 2114. Active in the second half of the 19th century, Duchoiselle was a French sculptor primarily known for his ceiling works in the Louvre, his works in L'Hotel de Brienne, the Palais Garnier Opera in Paris and his bronze sculptures of native Americans. “Jean-François-Théodore Gechter (1795, Paris - 1844, Paris) was a French sculptor. A student of François Joseph Bosio and baron Gros, he is now most noted for his bronzes. He first exhibited in 1824, in a show of classical and mythological subjects. From 1830 he shifted to smaller sculptures and animal subjects, like Antoine-Louis Barye, another student of Bosio and Gros. He also had a talent for historical scenes with figures in elaborate costumes. Gechter's penchant and gift in depicting historical scenes reached new heights when in 1833 he exhibited his Combat of Charles Martel...

This sculpture has taken on a different character over time as it has weathered and the detailing has softened. Time has given it a pared down, minimalist quality juxtaposing the R...

Cerberus Black painted stone Italy, 17th century Measures: 80 x 69 x 36cm (one head missing) Cerberus, cruel monster, fierce and strange, Through his wide threefold throat barks as a dog Over the multitude immers'd beneath. His eyes glare crimson, black his unctuous beard, His belly large, and claw'd the hands, with which He tears the spirits, flays them, and their limbs Piecemeal disparts (Dante, Inferno, Canto VI). Cerberus figure seated, in his role of ferocious guardian of the underworld; he shows a nervous musculature, an adherent skin which reveals the ribs, long and robust limbs; his heads are broad and the eyes set well apart. Painted in black to amplify his menacing look, the infernal guardian is depicted with his famous attributes, writhing his heads, growling and barking furiously. Cerberus, in Greek mythology, was the monstrous watchdog of the underworld – also known as the “hound of Hades” – preventing the dead from leaving, and making sure that those who entered never left. A child of Typhon and Echidna, he was part of a monstrous family, which included Orthus, the Lernaean Hydra, and the Chimaera as well. Only on three occasions Cerberus was tricked by visitors of Hades: Heracles did it with his strength, Orpheus with his music. In "The Inferno", Dante places Cerberus as the guardian of the third circle of Hell. With his three mouths, Dante saw Cerberus as a beast that was synonymous with the sin of Gluttony. Virgil gets past the monster by throwing mud in his three mouths, temporarily choking him. Very rare are the representations of Cerberus in ancient statuary...

Rare pair of sitting Mastiffs dogs. Venice, end of 15th century - first half of the 16th century. Istrian stone. Provenance: - Important private collection of an architect and scenographer from Orvieto (Umbria) A regular exportation licence delivered by the Italian Ministry of Culture accompanies the work. The representation of the dog dates back to ancient times, when dogs were considered weapons of war and used to attack the enemy or stand guard to protect strategic locations. At the entrance to the Pompei’s villa, the presence of a "cave canem...

20th century French stone lion holding a shield on a pedestal. A 20th century lion carved from stone holding a crest carved with a lion with wearing a crown. It is a representation o...

In Medieval Europe and even more during the early 16th century fantastic beasts could be found in Bestiaries, a literary genre close to poetry. A bestiary used the characteristics of...

Sea monster Carrara marble mouth fountain Italy, late 16th century It measures 13.8 x 31.5 x 18.9 in (35 x 80 x 48 cm) State of conservation: some small evident gaps and widespread signs of wear due to outdoor exposure. The gray marks crossing it do not come from restoration, but are rather the natural veins of the marble. This work has some morphological characteristics typically associated with the iconography of the sea monster: an elongated muzzle, sharp teeth, protruding eyes, elongated ears, and a coiled serpent's tail. An in-depth series of studies on artistic depictions of the sea monster attempted to verify how this symbol evolved in antiquity in the European and Mediterranean contexts and how it gradually changed its image and function over time. The iconography itself is mutable and imaginative and its history is rich with cultural and artistic exchange, as well as the overlapping of ideas. This occurred so much that it is difficult to accurately pinpoint the "types" that satisfactorily represent its various developments. However, we can try to summarize the main figures, starting from the biblical Leviathan and the marine creature that swallowed Jonah (in the Christian version, this figure was to become a whale or a "big fish", the “ketos mega”, translation of the Hebrew “dag gadol”). Other specimens ranged from the dragons mentioned in the Iliad (which were winged and had legs) to "ketos” (also from Greek mythology), the terrifying being from whose Latinized name (“cetus”) derives the word "cetacean". See J. Boardman, “Very Like a Whale” - Classical Sea Monsters, in Monsters and Demons in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds, in Papers presented in Honor of Edith Porada, Mainz am Rhein 1987, pp. 73-84). In Italy the monster underwent yet further variations: it can be found in Etruscan art on the front of some sarcophagi representing the companion of souls, while among the Romans we find the “Pistrice” (cited by Plinio in Naturalis Historia PLIN., Nat., II 9, 8 and by Virgilio in Eneide: VERG., Aen., III, 427), which appeared in the shape of a stylized hippocampus or a very large monstrous cetacean and evolved into a hideous being with a dragon's head and long webbed fins. During the Middle Ages, the sea monster was the object of new transformations: at this time, it is often winged, the head is stretched like a crocodile, the front legs are often very sharp fins - sometimes real paws - until the image merges with dragons, the typical figures of medieval visionary spirituality widely found throughout Europe (on this topic and much more, see: Baltrušaitis, J., Il Medioevo fantastico. Antichità ed esotismi nell’arte gotica, Gli Adelphi 1997). In Italy during the 15th and 16th centuries, the revival of classicism - representative of the humanistic and Renaissance periods - led to a different reading of these "creatures". Indeed, the sea monster was also to find widespread use as an isolated decorative motif, especially in numerous fountains and sculptures where dolphins or sea monsters were used as a characterizing element linked to water (on this theme see: Chet Van Duzer, Sea Monsters on Medieval and Renaissance Maps, London, The British library, 2013). From the morphological point of view, the "sea monsters" of this period are mostly depicted as hybrid figures, in which the body of a mythological or real being (a hippocampus, a sea snake, a dolphin), is joined to a head with a rather indistinct appearance. It was usually characterized by large upright ears, an elongated snout, sharp teeth and globular, protruding eyes; a complex and indefinite figure, both from the symbolic point of view and from that of its genesis. The work we are examining is placed as a cross between the medieval sea serpent and the Renaissance dolphin, with stylistic features which recall the snake as often used in heraldry (such as the "snake" depicted in the coat of arms of the Visconti - the lords and then dukes of Milan between 1277 and 1447 - and which, for some, may be derived from the representations of the “Pistrice” that swallowed Jonah). In the search for sources, Renaissance cartography and in particular woodcuts should not be neglected. See for example the monsters of Olaus Magnus, from the editions of the “Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus” (“History of the peoples of the north”) and the natural histories of Conrad Gesner, Ulisse...

This is an unusual pair of 17th Century (or earlier) Flemish (?) carved lions that once formed part of a large cabinet or, perhaps, the feet of an elaborat...

A very finely cast late 19 century Grand Tour bronze replica of the renowned statue of Bartolomeo Colleoni on horseback set on a verde antico marble base after the life sized bronze statue by the Renaissance sculptor Andrea Del Verrocchio...

Pair of Italian Renaissance style green patinated bronze figure of horse walking (from a series of 1,000 titled: "Cavalli di San Marco II", signed by L...

Exceptional pair of aigles of the 16th century of Italy Superbe pair of wooden sculpted aigles from the Italian Renaissance. Very Fine and delicate sculpture The pair of eagles se...

Pair of Italian Renaissance style silver plate bronze figure of horse walking (from a series of 1,000 titled: "Cavalli di San Marco II", signed by LUDOVICO De LUIGI, 1979).  

Stunning early 1600s press with hand-carved heraldic lion sculptures. In the same decade that a young painter by the name of Rembrandt van Rijn w...