Circle of John of Bologna, XVI-XVII century

Circle of JOHN OF BOLOGNA (Douai, Flanders, 1529 - Florence, 1608) -GIAMBOLOGNA.
"Pietà".
Gilded bronze.
Provenance: Important Spanish private collection.
Measurements: 19 x 13 x 1 cm.
The piece is characterized by the subtlety of the Italian school, where the treatment of the delicate faces and the spatial conception reveal the great mastery of the author who also shows a strong inspiration in the work of Michelangelo, which can be seen through the treatment of the monumental volume of the body of Christ. The last plane of the piece has been worked with the technique of "schiacciato", a system of modeling in sculptural relief used by the Romans and perfected in the fifteenth century by Donatello, which consists of proportionally reducing the bulk of the relief according to the depth to be represented. This sculptural technique makes it possible to create a bas-relief with a minimal variation (sometimes referred to as millimeters) with respect to the background. To give the viewer the illusion of depth, the gradual decrease in the depth of the thickness is complemented by the rigorous application of the laws of perspective, which enhances the visual effect.
Giambologna was born in Douai, Flanders, in 1529. After youthful studies in Antwerp with the architect-sculptor Jacques du Broeucq, he moved to Italy in 1550 and studied in Rome, making a detailed study of the sculpture of classical antiquity. He was also greatly influenced by Michelangelo, but developed his own mannerist style, perhaps with less emphasis on emotion and more attention on refined surfaces, cool elegance and beauty. Pope Pius IV gave Giambologna his first major commission, the colossal bronze Neptune and subsidiary figures for the Fountain of Neptune in Bologna. Giambologna spent his most productive years in Florence, where he had settled in 1553. In 1563 he was appointed a member of the prestigious Accademia delle Arti del Disegno, newly founded by Duke Cosimo I de Medici. The Medici had never allowed him to leave Florence, as they rightly feared that the Austrian or Spanish Habsburgs would lure him into permanent employment.