Giovanni Nisini

GIOVANNI NISINI ; Rome, XIX century.
"Furietti centaurs".
Patinated bronze.
Signed on the base.
Measurements: 57 x 32 x 15 cm; 48 x 32 x 15 x 15 cm.
These pieces follow the stylistic models of the centaurs found in the Villa Adriana in Tivoli, made by Aristeas and Papias, during the Hadrianic period (117-138 A.D.), which now belong to the collection of the Capitoline Museum. The originals are made of marble and are known as "The Young Centaur" and "The Old Centaur". They were found in 1746, becoming a source of artistic inspiration. An example of this are these two bronze sculptures that, despite following the model already mentioned, have their own characteristics that make them unique sculptures.
The figure of the centaur comes from Greek mythology; this race, with the torso and head of a human and the legs of a horse, was very prone to excesses with wine and to be carried away by low instincts, thus provoking famous battles against the Lapiths, which the centaurs usually lost, in a metaphor of the triumph of the civilized behavior of men, an episode represented for example in the friezes of the Parthenon. An important centaur in ancient iconography was Nessus, famous for abducting Deyanira, fiancée of Hercules.