Model by Andrea Riccio, XVI century

Model by ANDREA RICCIO (c. 1470 - 1532); 16th century.
"The glorification of a hero".
Bronze.
Possesses report of Doña Rosario Coppel.
Provenance: Important Spanish private collection.
Measurements: 7,5 x 10,3 x 0,5 cm.
Framed by a narrow frieze, the scene is composed of a series of figures. In the center, a naked young man stands on a platform. To the right, a winged female figure, also nude, an allegory of Fame or victory, poses with her left hand resting on the young man's right shoulder. Between them, on the ground, there is a base decorated with a bearded mask and standing figurines, one woman dressed in chiton, and the other man, both with their heads covered with helmets. The first carries a laurel branch in her hand and the second a flag waving in the wind. In the left corner is another base from which a snake is emerging. To the right a naked male, kneeling on the same platform where the main character stands, holds a list to be sacrificed. At the end is a bearded man in a loincloth, wielding a knife. Behind the kneeling figure there are two flute players and a man with a long beard, his head covered by a laurel branch. In the background we can appreciate the cup of laurel and arbolito, and the remains of fragmented architecture composed by arch.
Aesthetically the work is close to the production of Andrea Riccio, who was an Italian sculptor and occasional architect, whose real name was Andrea Briosco, but is generally known by his nickname meaning "curly"; although he is also known as Il Riccio and Andrea Crispus ("curly" in Latin). He is known primarily for his small bronzes, often practical objects such as inkwells, or door knockers, exquisitely carved and decorated in a classicist Renaissance style. He was born in Padua and was first trained as a goldsmith by his father, Ambrogio di Cristoforo Briosco. He later began studying bronze casting with Bartolomeo Bellano, a pupil of Donatello. As an architect, he is known for the church of Santa Giustina in his hometown. His masterpieces are the bronze Paschal candelabra in the choir of the basilica of Sant'Antonio in Padua (1515), and the two bronze reliefs (1507) of David dancing before the Ark and Judith and Holofernes in the same church. His bronze and marble tomb of the physician Girolamo della Torre in the church of San Fermo in Verona was beautifully decorated with reliefs, which were taken by the French and are now in the Louvre. His smaller, easily transportable works attracted collectors from all over Europe. A bronze lamp made by Riccio was a longtime possession of the Rothschild family, and is now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.