Morgante: M.11-1997

Titles

Morgante

Maker(s)

Designer: Giambologna (Jean Boulogne) (After)
Founder: Unknown (Uncertain)

Entities

• Figure

Categories

• Sculpture

Description

Bronze statuette of Braccio di Bartolo, known as Il Nano Morgante (c. 1535 - after 1594), court dwarf and a favourite of Grand Duke Cosimo I de' Medici in Florence. Il Morgante was the most famous of the five jesters in Cosimo's court.

Notes

History note: Leitch & Kerin by 15 Sept. 1937, when purchased (invoice: £35) by Lt Col. the Hon. M.T. Boscawen, DSO, MC; bequeathed to his sister, the Hon. Mrs Pamela Sherek

Legal notes

Bequeathed by the Hon. Mrs Pamela Sherek, from the collection of the late Lt Col. the Hon. M.T. Boscawen, DSO, MC, in his memory

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1995) by Sherek, Pamela

Dating

16th Century, Mid-17th Century, Early
Circa 1560 CE - 1630 CE

Note

After an original model by Giambologna. There are 2 main variants of this model: one in which Morgante is depicted as the personification of Bacchus, holding a wine cup in his outstretched right hand and a bunch of grapes in his left; the other in which Morgante holds a cornetto in his right hand, while leaning on a stick held in his left (for a complete version of this, see Victoria and Albert Museum, London, no. 65-1865). The present bronze is a derivation of the first variant, with the figure holding a wine cup in his right hand.

School or Style

Mannerist