Italian School, second half of the 17th century.

Italian School, second half of the 17th century.
"Equestrian figure of a knight."
Cast, chiseled, and gilded bronze.
The rider and horse were cast separately and assembled using a metal pin.
It has a patina and slight losses in the gilding consistent with its age.
Measurements: 25 x 18 x 12 cm.

The work belongs to the prestigious Baroque tradition of cabinet-sized equestrian statuettes, a scaled-down version of the grand monuments intended to exalt military and courtly authority. The knight, clad in armor, commands a rearing horse whose pronounced elevation, together with the movement of the mane and the drapery, lends the composition a marked dynamism. The absence of conclusive heraldic attributes suggests that it should not be identified with a specific historical figure.

Its design draws on the equestrian tradition developed in Florence by Giambologna and Pietro Tacca, whose monument to Philip IV in Madrid—created between 1634 and 1640—made the rearing horse one of the most emblematic motifs in European courtly sculpture. This repertoire was widely disseminated in small bronze works during the 17th century, especially through sculptors such as Francesco Fanelli, whose equestrian figures circulated among aristocratic collections as objects of prestige.

The continuity of this typology is exemplified at the end of the century by Giovanni Battista Foggini’s *Charles II on Horseback*, created in Florence in 1698 and now in the Prado Museum. As with this piece, the horse and rider were cast separately, a technique that allowed each element to be shaped, gilded, and assembled independently. The small scale, sculptural quality, and gilding place the work within the tradition of cabinet bronze intended for elite collectors.