Padua School; XVI Century

Paduan School, Circle of ANDREA RICCIO (c. 1470 - 1532); 16th century.
Bronze.
Size: 6 x 12 x 9 cm.
A crab traps a frog between its claws, which opens its mouth adopting an expressive gesture, which captures the essence of the act between the two animals. This somewhat human gesture and the presence of the two animals imbues this bronze sculpture with a certain air of fantasy. Both animals have been reflected by the artist faithful to reality, showing their anatomies in a precise way, in such a way that it is the conjunction of the two animals that creates this element of dissonance between them, which makes the piece very attractive.
Aesthetically the work is close to the output 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.