After Giambologna

The present bronze is based on the horse originally conceived by the Italian mannerist sculptor Giambologna for his equestrian monument to Cosimo I in the Piazza della Signoria, Florence. The monument was commissioned by Ferdinando de’ Medici to commemorate Cosimo following Ferdinando’s accession to Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1587 and was completed in 1594.

The monumental sculpture of Cosimo I proved so popular among contemporary rulers that Emperor Rudolph II requested an almost identical statue of himself on horseback. In 1612, Grand Duke Cosimo II presented several statuettes in bronze to Henry, Prince of Wales, suggesting they might be a suitable gift for his 11-year-old brother the Duke of York. Henry replied “No, no, I want everything for myself.” 

Giambologna was inspired by the antique over-life-size bronze of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, which had been placed as the centrepiece of Michelangelo's rearrangement of the Piazza del Campidoglio, Rome. The antique model is now in the Capitoline Museum, Rome (inv. no. MC3247).

RELATED LITERATURE

C. Avery, Giambologna: The Complete Sculpture, Oxford, 1987, nos. 38 and 132