Model of Andrea Riccio, 16th century

Model by ANDREA RICCIO (c. 1470 - 1532); 16th century.
"The glorification of a hero".
Bronze.
It 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 centre, a naked young man stands on a platform. On 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, is a base decorated with a bearded mask and standing figurines, a woman dressed in a chiton, and the other man, both with their heads covered with helmets. The former holds a laurel branch in her hand and the latter a flag fluttering in the wind. In the left corner is another base from which a snake is emerging. On the right, a naked man kneeling on the same platform as the main figure holds a list to be sacrificed. At the far end is a bearded man in a loincloth holding a knife. Behind the kneeling figure are two flute players and a man with a long beard, his head covered with a laurel branch. In the background we can see the laurel tree and sapling, and the remains of fragmented architecture consisting of an 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 mainly known for his small bronzes, often practical objects such as inkwells, or door knockers, exquisitely sculpted and decorated in a classicistic Renaissance style. He was born in Padua and was first trained as a goldsmith by his father, Ambrogio di Cristoforo Briosco. He later began to study bronze casting with Bartolomeo Bellano, a pupil of Donatello. As an architect, he is best known for the church of Santa Giustina in his native city. 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 long-time possession of the Rothschild family, and is now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.