ANTONIO SUSINI (1558-1624), SCHOOL OF, Fowler. Inspired by a model by Giambologna.

Brass with impurities, brown coated. 30,5 x 13 x 18 cm (just the statue)

A very popular subject depicting a nocturnal hunt. The fowlers shoved a lantern, called the "frugolo" in Italian, near the bird's roost, then struck them with a bat, the "ramata". Many incisions have handed down how this technique was performed to this day.

This bronze subject was created by Giambologna, then reproduced by his apprentice and successor Antonio Susini, as well as by other assistants such as Giovan Francesco Susini, Antonio Baldinucci's nephew, and other unidentified artists.

Giambologna's original is thought to be the specimen in the Robert Smith collection, Virginia, whereas six varieties of this statues are thought to have been casted and chiselled by Susini: the finest one is thought to be the one in the Louvre, while the remaining specimens are each housed in different locations: the Castello Sforzesco in Milan, the Detroit Institute of Art, the Saint Louis Art Museum, Stockholm’s Nationalmuseum, and a private collection in the USA. More instances of this statue: one is housed in Florence’s Bargello, and one was published in Tomasso Brothers Fine Art’s catalogue in 2008 (indexing curated by Andrew Butterfield). This specimen is the most similar one to the Louvre’s.

The statue’s version here presented is alike the others in some respects but diverges in others: here the fowler is not holding the bat, and the lamplight is incorporated inside the “frugolo”.

Attributing bronzes to Giambologna with certainty is way too arduous of a task; for this reason, the statue is here presented as Susini’s, possibly dating to the XVII century.

Includes alloy examination.