Italian Sculpture
not including Roman sculpture
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Sculpture Bust Italy Modigliani Silverware
Chronology : 1610-1619 1640-1649 1810-1819 1910-1919 1911 1972 2001 2016
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : Sculpture Bust Italy Modigliani Silverware
Chronology : 1610-1619 1640-1649 1810-1819 1910-1919 1911 1972 2001 2016
Special Report
Donatello
Donatello's (c. 1386–1466) engagement with ancient Roman and Greek sculpture was transformative, marking him as one of the primary architects of the Early Renaissance revival of classical ideals in three-dimensional art. As a Florentine sculptor who bridged the late Gothic and Renaissance periods, Donatello actively studied antiquities, particularly through travels to Rome and exposure to emerging collections, to break from medieval stylization toward naturalism, anatomical accuracy, contrapposto, independent freestanding figures, and expressive humanity—principles rooted in Greco-Roman sculpture.
Early Exposure and Study of Antiquities
Donatello's formative encounter with classical art occurred around 1407–1408, when he traveled to Rome with architect Filippo Brunelleschi. There, they examined ancient ruins, sarcophagi, friezes, and surviving statues. This direct observation profoundly shaped Donatello, shifting him away from the International Gothic style (graceful, elongated, decorative forms) he learned under Lorenzo Ghiberti toward a more monumental, realistic approach inspired by antiquity.
Donatello's masterpieces vividly illustrate this revival:
Donatello's classical revival went beyond imitation—he fused antique forms with new realism, emotional expressiveness, and individualism. This "resuscitated" sculpture from medieval flatness, reintroducing the nude, contrapposto, and freestanding autonomy that had been lost for centuries. His work paved the way for later masters like Michelangelo, who studied Donatello's innovations alongside direct antiquities (e.g., Belvedere Torso).
In the Medici context, surrounded by ancient marbles, Donatello's sculptures embodied humanist ideals: celebrating the human form as capable of divine-like beauty and moral triumph. His influence helped define the Renaissance as a rebirth (rinascita) of Greco-Roman aesthetics, adapted to Christian and civic themes in 15th-century Florence. Art historians often hail him as the sculptor who most daringly transformed classical principles into a vibrant, modern idiom.
Early Exposure and Study of Antiquities
Donatello's formative encounter with classical art occurred around 1407–1408, when he traveled to Rome with architect Filippo Brunelleschi. There, they examined ancient ruins, sarcophagi, friezes, and surviving statues. This direct observation profoundly shaped Donatello, shifting him away from the International Gothic style (graceful, elongated, decorative forms) he learned under Lorenzo Ghiberti toward a more monumental, realistic approach inspired by antiquity.
- He absorbed elements like naturalistic drapery folds (seen in Greek and Roman tunics), three-dimensional volume, and the treatment of the human body as an autonomous, expressive entity detached from architectural settings—echoing how ancient sculptures stood independently in temples or public spaces.
- His knowledge of ancient art was more extensive than most contemporaries, influencing his use of classical Roman lettering in inscriptions and signatures.
Donatello's masterpieces vividly illustrate this revival:
- Bronze David (c. 1440s, Bargello, Florence): The most iconic example, this is the first freestanding nude male sculpture since antiquity and the first unsupported bronze standing figure of the Renaissance.
- It revives classical ideals: the relaxed contrapposto stance (weight shifted to one leg, hips and shoulders offset for natural balance and dynamism), echoing Greek athlete statues and Roman copies (e.g., influences from Polykleitos' canon or Hellenistic works).
- The youthful, androgynous figure transforms the biblical hero into a graceful, almost pagan "young Greek god," with realistic proportions (narrower chest than idealized Greek forms) and a casual, victorious pose—foot on Goliath's head—blending antique heroism with humanist naturalism.
- Commissioned likely by the Medici, it reflects their collection of antiquities and the Renaissance emphasis on physical beauty, victory through intellect/faith over brute force.
- Marble David (c. 1408–1409, Bargello): An earlier work showing transitional Gothic-classical elements, but already moving toward antique-inspired realism.
- St. Mark (c. 1411–1413, Orsanmichele, Florence): Displays classical monumentality and psychological depth, with realistic drapery folds directly observed from ancient Roman statues.
- Cantoria (singing gallery for Florence Cathedral, 1433–1439): Inspired by ancient Roman sarcophagi, friezes, and Byzantine ivories, featuring energetic putti in bacchanalian dances with antique motifs (acanthus leaves, egg-and-dart, rosettes).
- Relief Techniques (e.g., rilievo stiacciato or schiacciato): Donatello's flattened, low-relief method creates illusionistic depth, drawing from ancient Roman stuccoes and carvings while conveying emotional intensity.
Donatello's classical revival went beyond imitation—he fused antique forms with new realism, emotional expressiveness, and individualism. This "resuscitated" sculpture from medieval flatness, reintroducing the nude, contrapposto, and freestanding autonomy that had been lost for centuries. His work paved the way for later masters like Michelangelo, who studied Donatello's innovations alongside direct antiquities (e.g., Belvedere Torso).
In the Medici context, surrounded by ancient marbles, Donatello's sculptures embodied humanist ideals: celebrating the human form as capable of divine-like beauty and moral triumph. His influence helped define the Renaissance as a rebirth (rinascita) of Greco-Roman aesthetics, adapted to Christian and civic themes in 15th-century Florence. Art historians often hail him as the sculptor who most daringly transformed classical principles into a vibrant, modern idiom.
masterpiece
1501-1504 David by Michelangelo
Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence
The image is shared by Wikimedia with attribution Jörg Bittner Unna, CC BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
David is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture created in marble between 1501 and 1504 by Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni. David is a 5.17-metre (17.0 ft) statue of a standing male nude. Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence, Italy.
The influence of ancient Roman sculpture on Michelangelo Buonarroti was profound and foundational, particularly during his formative years (roughly 1489–1496, ages 14–21) and throughout his career. This exposure helped shape his obsession with the idealized, heroic male nude, dynamic contrapposto poses, muscular anatomy, and the expression of inner tension through the body—hallmarks of his High Renaissance style.
Formative Exposure in Florence (Medici Garden, c. 1489–1492)
Michelangelo's earliest direct encounter with ancient Roman (and Greek) sculpture came through the Medici family's collection. After a brief apprenticeship in Domenico Ghirlandaio's workshop (1488), the young Michelangelo was invited by Lorenzo de' Medici ("il Magnifico") to study in the Medici Garden (also called the Platonic Academy or sculpture garden). This informal "academy" housed Lorenzo's vast holdings of antique marbles, including Roman copies of Greek originals, sarcophagi reliefs, and statuary fragments.
Early Career Forgery and Roman Move (1490s)
By his late teens/early 20s, Michelangelo's skill in mimicking ancient Roman styles was so advanced that he forged a Sleeping Cupid (c. 1496), artificially aging it to pass as an antique. Sold through a dealer to Cardinal Riario in Rome, the forgery was discovered—but Riario, impressed by the imitation of classical form, invited Michelangelo to Rome instead of punishing him. In Renaissance terms, masterful copying of antiquity proved genius, not deceit.In Rome (from 1496), Michelangelo encountered more antiquities firsthand, including emerging papal collections.
Key Ancient Sculptures and Specific Influences
Michelangelo drew inspiration from several iconic ancient works (mostly Roman copies of Hellenistic/Greek originals), which he studied, copied, and internalized:
Broader Impact on Michelangelo's Oeuvre
Ancient Roman sculpture bridged Michelangelo's early naturalism (from Masaccio and Donatello) to his mature idealism. It fueled his belief in "liberating" the figure from the marble block (as if the form pre-existed within). This is evident in masterpieces like:
David is a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture created in marble between 1501 and 1504 by Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni. David is a 5.17-metre (17.0 ft) statue of a standing male nude. Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence, Italy.
- Carved from a single block of Carrara marble between 1501 and 1504, the 17-foot nude depicts the biblical David in a tense, pre-battle contrapposto pose, symbolizing Florence's republican ideals and Renaissance anatomical precision, as noted in Vasari's historical accounts.
The influence of ancient Roman sculpture on Michelangelo Buonarroti was profound and foundational, particularly during his formative years (roughly 1489–1496, ages 14–21) and throughout his career. This exposure helped shape his obsession with the idealized, heroic male nude, dynamic contrapposto poses, muscular anatomy, and the expression of inner tension through the body—hallmarks of his High Renaissance style.
Formative Exposure in Florence (Medici Garden, c. 1489–1492)
Michelangelo's earliest direct encounter with ancient Roman (and Greek) sculpture came through the Medici family's collection. After a brief apprenticeship in Domenico Ghirlandaio's workshop (1488), the young Michelangelo was invited by Lorenzo de' Medici ("il Magnifico") to study in the Medici Garden (also called the Platonic Academy or sculpture garden). This informal "academy" housed Lorenzo's vast holdings of antique marbles, including Roman copies of Greek originals, sarcophagi reliefs, and statuary fragments.
- Under the guidance of Bertoldo di Giovanni (Donatello's pupil), Michelangelo drew, copied, and carved from these antiquities alongside humanist scholars, poets, and philosophers.
- This immersion revived classical ideals of proportion, ideal beauty, and the human form as the pinnacle of artistic expression—contrasting with the more decorative or symbolic Gothic/Medieval traditions.
- Early works reflect this: His lost Head of a Faun (c. 1489) copied an ancient model, while the Battle of the Centaurs relief (c. 1490–1492) drew from Roman sarcophagi and Greek battle scenes (e.g., Lapiths vs. Centaurs motifs), with multidirectional, writhing figures in high relief that broke from flat planes.
Early Career Forgery and Roman Move (1490s)
By his late teens/early 20s, Michelangelo's skill in mimicking ancient Roman styles was so advanced that he forged a Sleeping Cupid (c. 1496), artificially aging it to pass as an antique. Sold through a dealer to Cardinal Riario in Rome, the forgery was discovered—but Riario, impressed by the imitation of classical form, invited Michelangelo to Rome instead of punishing him. In Renaissance terms, masterful copying of antiquity proved genius, not deceit.In Rome (from 1496), Michelangelo encountered more antiquities firsthand, including emerging papal collections.
Key Ancient Sculptures and Specific Influences
Michelangelo drew inspiration from several iconic ancient works (mostly Roman copies of Hellenistic/Greek originals), which he studied, copied, and internalized:
- Belvedere Torso (1st century BC marble, fragmentary male nude, signed by Apollonios): Michelangelo called himself its "disciple" or "school." He admired its contorted, twisting pose, exaggerated musculature, and sense of dynamic potential despite incompleteness. It influenced:
- The powerful, muscular torsos in his nudes (e.g., Ignudi on the Sistine Chapel ceiling).
- Figures in the Last Judgment (Christ's torso echoes its heroic build).
- Later works like the Day and Night in the Medici Tombs.
- Laocoön and His Sons (rediscovered 1506, Hellenistic original c. 1st century BC): Michelangelo was among the first experts at its excavation and correctly intuited the bent (not extended) right arm of Laocoön. Its anguished, straining figures and dramatic torsion influenced:
- The expressive suffering in Last Judgment (e.g., Christ's raised, bent arm).
- Overall portrayal of bodily agony and heroic struggle.
- Apollo Belvedere (Roman copy of Greek original): Its idealized face and graceful contrapposto informed facial features and poised stances in Michelangelo's figures (e.g., aspects in Last Judgment Christ).
Broader Impact on Michelangelo's Oeuvre
Ancient Roman sculpture bridged Michelangelo's early naturalism (from Masaccio and Donatello) to his mature idealism. It fueled his belief in "liberating" the figure from the marble block (as if the form pre-existed within). This is evident in masterpieces like:
- David (1501–1504): A colossal nude hero in contrapposto, echoing Greek/Roman athlete statues but infused with Florentine republican spirit.
- Pietà (1498–1499): Balanced, classical drapery and serene beauty.
- Sistine Chapel figures: Muscular, twisting nudes drawing from Belvedere Torso and Laocoön.
- Medici Chapel tombs: Allegorical figures with antique-inspired torsion and monumentality.
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Michelangelo's David (1501–1504), the iconic marble statue standing 5.17 meters (17 feet) tall in the Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence, captures the biblical hero in a moment of intense anticipation just before confronting Goliath. Unlike earlier depictions (e.g., Donatello's relaxed, post-victory David), Michelangelo portrays him nude, youthful, and alert—embodying the Renaissance ideal of heroic potential, intellect over brute force, and the triumph of Florentine republican spirit.The pose is a masterful example of contrapposto (Italian for "counterpose" or "opposite"), a classical technique revived in the Renaissance that infuses naturalism, dynamism, and psychological tension into a standing figure. David stands with his weight shifted heavily onto his right leg (the engaged or supporting leg), while his left leg is relaxed, slightly bent at the knee, and positioned forward as if stepping ahead. This imbalance creates a subtle S-curve through the body: the hips tilt downward from right to left, counterbalanced by the shoulders tilting in the opposite direction (downward from left to right), resulting in a gentle spinal twist and an overall sense of poised, latent energy.Key Elements of the Pose
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Michelangelo's David (1501–1504), the iconic marble statue standing 5.17 meters (17 feet) tall in the Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence, captures the biblical hero in a moment of intense anticipation just before confronting Goliath. Unlike earlier depictions (e.g., Donatello's relaxed, post-victory David), Michelangelo portrays him nude, youthful, and alert—embodying the Renaissance ideal of heroic potential, intellect over brute force, and the triumph of Florentine republican spirit.The pose is a masterful example of contrapposto (Italian for "counterpose" or "opposite"), a classical technique revived in the Renaissance that infuses naturalism, dynamism, and psychological tension into a standing figure. David stands with his weight shifted heavily onto his right leg (the engaged or supporting leg), while his left leg is relaxed, slightly bent at the knee, and positioned forward as if stepping ahead. This imbalance creates a subtle S-curve through the body: the hips tilt downward from right to left, counterbalanced by the shoulders tilting in the opposite direction (downward from left to right), resulting in a gentle spinal twist and an overall sense of poised, latent energy.Key Elements of the Pose
- Weight distribution and balance: The right leg bears most of the body's weight, causing the right hip to drop slightly and the left hip to rise. A small tree-stump support behind the right leg (carved from the marble) provides structural stability and prevents breakage—common in large marble works—but also subtly reinforces the grounded, rooted feel.
- Arms and hands: The left arm is raised and bent, with the hand holding the sling's cords draped over the left shoulder and running down the back. The right hand hangs at his side, gripping the sling's handle (with a stone implied inside), veins bulging to show tension and readiness. The arms' contrasting positions—one high and active, one low and clenched—amplify the body's torsion and convey inner resolve.
- Torso and head: The torso twists slightly, with broad shoulders pushed back and chest forward, emphasizing muscular definition and heroic anatomy. The head turns to the left in profile, brow furrowed, gaze intense and focused into the distance—evoking concentration, defiance, and terribilità (Michelangelo's signature awe-inspiring power and emotional depth). The dilated nostrils, contracted muscles, and furrowed brow heighten the sense of imminent action.
- Overall effect: The contrapposto creates "arrested motion"—David appears calm yet vibrating with potential energy, as if he could spring forward at any moment. This psychological charge, combined with idealized yet anatomically precise proportions (adjusted for low viewing angle: larger head, hands, and right hand for perspectival correction), makes the figure feel alive and monumental
GIAMBOLOGNA
Intro
Giambologna (1529–1608), born Jean de Boulogne in Douai (Flanders, now France), was a Flemish-born sculptor who became one of the most influential figures in late Renaissance and Mannerist sculpture after settling in Italy. He is often regarded as the last major sculptor of the Italian Renaissance and a key bridge to the Baroque era.
Breakthrough in Florence
After training in the Low Countries and a formative trip to Rome (where he absorbed classical antiquity and Michelangelo's influence), Giambologna arrived in Florence around 1553–1554. He quickly rose under Medici patronage, particularly from Francesco I de' Medici.
His major breakthrough came with innovative works that pushed Mannerism to new heights:
Other key breakthrough pieces include Samson Slaying a Philistine (c. 1562, originally for a fountain, now in London), with violent intertwined bodies, and numerous refined small bronzes that circulated widely.
Sculpture Legacy
Giambologna ran a highly productive workshop in Florence, producing bronzes in editions (an early form of multiples), garden sculptures, fountains, and large public monuments. His influence was profound:
Breakthrough in Florence
After training in the Low Countries and a formative trip to Rome (where he absorbed classical antiquity and Michelangelo's influence), Giambologna arrived in Florence around 1553–1554. He quickly rose under Medici patronage, particularly from Francesco I de' Medici.
His major breakthrough came with innovative works that pushed Mannerism to new heights:
- Early recognition came with small bronzes and models, showcasing his skill in dynamic, twisting figures.
- The bronze Flying Mercury (or Mercurio, c. 1564–1580, with versions in multiple museums) marked a technical and stylistic leap. It depicts the god poised on one foot (Zephyr's breath), with elongated proportions, spiraling contrapposto, and an upward thrust that creates a sense of weightless flight. This piece demonstrated his mastery of multi-viewpoint composition and became one of his most replicated works.
- It was carved from a single block of marble.
- The spiraling, serpentine forms create a "figura serpentinata" (serpentine figure), designed for viewing from all angles with no primary viewpoint.
- It exemplifies Mannerist ideals: exaggerated elegance, emotional intensity, artificial grace, and technical virtuosity over classical balance.
Other key breakthrough pieces include Samson Slaying a Philistine (c. 1562, originally for a fountain, now in London), with violent intertwined bodies, and numerous refined small bronzes that circulated widely.
Sculpture Legacy
Giambologna ran a highly productive workshop in Florence, producing bronzes in editions (an early form of multiples), garden sculptures, fountains, and large public monuments. His influence was profound:
- He perfected and popularized Mannerist sculpture across Europe through his bronzes, which were collected by courts from Spain to Germany.
- His emphasis on multi-figural groups, spiraling compositions, and all-around viewing directly paved the way for Baroque sculpture. Artists like Gian Lorenzo Bernini drew heavily from his dynamic poses, dramatic movement, and emotional expressiveness—Bernini's Apollo and Daphne echoes Giambologna's twisting forms.
- He influenced Northern European sculpture (e.g., Adriaen de Vries) and fountain design (Medici commissions like the Fountain of Neptune elements).
- His workshop trained generations of sculptors, spreading his techniques.
1
masterpiece
1563 Mercurio volante
Museo del Bargello, Florence
The Flemish born Jean de Boulogne had his name Italianized to Giovanni da Bologna shortened to Giambologna when he worked as a court sculptor for the Medici in Florence.
Giambologna brings a kinetic dimension to the Mannerist sculpture. The momentum of the composition is directed upwards. The spectator takes pleasure in rotating around the statue to admire from varied angles the lightness of the movement.
Designed in 1563, his Mercury is one of the best known and most often copied artworks in the history of sculpture.
The image is shared by Wikimedia with attribution : Rufus46, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Giambologna brings a kinetic dimension to the Mannerist sculpture. The momentum of the composition is directed upwards. The spectator takes pleasure in rotating around the statue to admire from varied angles the lightness of the movement.
Designed in 1563, his Mercury is one of the best known and most often copied artworks in the history of sculpture.
The image is shared by Wikimedia with attribution : Rufus46, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
2
masterpiece
1582 Ratto delle Sabine, marble
Loggia dei Lanzi
Giambologna's masterpiece is the 4.10 m high group of three figures cut in a single block of marble, installed in 1582 at the Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence. The action is vertical. A muscular man raises a pretty woman of whom he tramples the old husband. This group of three nudes is traditionally considered as the Rape of a Sabine. The dramatic tension is similar to the Laocoon, an ancient sculpture designed for a unique angle of view. It already announces the Baroque style.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
The image is shared by Wikimedia.
1616 Autumn by Bernini Father and Son
2021 SOLD for $ 8.9M by Sotheby's
Around the Popes, the Roman aristocrats rediscover the pleasures of gardens and halls populated with marble statues. The antique objects constitute the basis of these new stagings while bringing an obvious frustration : the theme depends on the hazard of the excavations, the statues are incomplete and require important and expensive restorations.
Pietro Bernini has been living in Rome since 1605. His main clients are the Borghese and Strozzi families. Skillful and inventive, he offers new themes in antique fashion while including the exaggerated movements and multiple angles of view of modern mannerism.
His son Gian Lorenzo is extremely talented but too young to be allowed to receive commissions on his own behalf. From 1615 he develops the baroque sculpture, adding vitality to the mannerism. Patrons will find in this new style the same expressive power as in the Laocoon.
Prince Strozzi prepares his luxurious villa, for which he asks Bernini for many contributions. A great lover of antiques, he commissions in particular two groups of four statues, both on the theme of the Four Seasons. One of them is made up of two antique marbles and two modern additions. The other is entirely the work of Bernini.
The complete series executed by Bernini has not been separated. It is kept in the Aldobrandini collection. From the other group, the two antique statues have disappeared, another has not been identified, and the fourth, Autumn, was sold for $ 8.9M by Sotheby's on January 29, 2021, lot 121, coming from the Hester Diamond collection. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The two Autumns have a comparable height, 125 cm for the Diamond marble, but also important differences. The Aldobrandini Autumn, seated, is almost life-size. The Diamond Autumn is standing. He has one hand on a trunk without being leaned back, in a remarkable mastery of balance.
The anatomical details, including the protruding muscles, and the expression of intense happiness of the Diamond satyr, resolutely baroque, prove that the younger Bernini is its principal maker. Whether or not this work came before the Aldobrandini satyr cannot be established. The date of 1616 is proposed. Undoubtedly, the styles of the two sculptors were already diverging. They stop collaborating in 1619 after Gian Lorenzo has reached his majority.
Rubens, the master of baroque painting, also dealt around the same time with the theme of the fruit-bearing satyr.
"Autumn" (circa 1615–1618), a monumental marble sculpture attributed to Pietro Bernini (1562–1629) and his son Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680), was offered as lot 121 in Sotheby's Fearless: The Collection of Hester Diamond Part I sale on January 29, 2021, in New York.
This work is a rare and significant early collaborative piece from the Bernini workshop, capturing the pivotal moment when the teenage Gian Lorenzo began to surpass his father's Mannerist style and forge the dynamic, expressive language of Baroque sculpture.
Description and Subject
Provenance and Exhibition History
Part of the single-owner sale "Fearless: The Collection of Hester Diamond Part I," which celebrated the late collector's eclectic taste in Old Masters, sculpture, and decorative arts. The total sale realized around $26.7–$28.6 million.
Created when Gian Lorenzo was about 17–20 years old, "Autumn" exemplifies his precocious genius. It stands alongside other early collaborations (e.g., works in the Getty Museum and Met) as evidence of his rapid evolution. The piece demonstrates the workshop dynamic: Pietro provided the commission and framework, but Gian Lorenzo's touch brought unprecedented vitality, foreshadowing masterpieces like Apollo and Daphne (1622–25) and The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa (1647–52).Its sale highlighted ongoing scholarly interest in early Bernini attributions and the high demand for Baroque sculpture at auction. References in major catalogues (e.g., by Irving Lavin, Andrea Bacchi, and others) affirm its place in Bernini studies.
Pietro Bernini has been living in Rome since 1605. His main clients are the Borghese and Strozzi families. Skillful and inventive, he offers new themes in antique fashion while including the exaggerated movements and multiple angles of view of modern mannerism.
His son Gian Lorenzo is extremely talented but too young to be allowed to receive commissions on his own behalf. From 1615 he develops the baroque sculpture, adding vitality to the mannerism. Patrons will find in this new style the same expressive power as in the Laocoon.
Prince Strozzi prepares his luxurious villa, for which he asks Bernini for many contributions. A great lover of antiques, he commissions in particular two groups of four statues, both on the theme of the Four Seasons. One of them is made up of two antique marbles and two modern additions. The other is entirely the work of Bernini.
The complete series executed by Bernini has not been separated. It is kept in the Aldobrandini collection. From the other group, the two antique statues have disappeared, another has not been identified, and the fourth, Autumn, was sold for $ 8.9M by Sotheby's on January 29, 2021, lot 121, coming from the Hester Diamond collection. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
The two Autumns have a comparable height, 125 cm for the Diamond marble, but also important differences. The Aldobrandini Autumn, seated, is almost life-size. The Diamond Autumn is standing. He has one hand on a trunk without being leaned back, in a remarkable mastery of balance.
The anatomical details, including the protruding muscles, and the expression of intense happiness of the Diamond satyr, resolutely baroque, prove that the younger Bernini is its principal maker. Whether or not this work came before the Aldobrandini satyr cannot be established. The date of 1616 is proposed. Undoubtedly, the styles of the two sculptors were already diverging. They stop collaborating in 1619 after Gian Lorenzo has reached his majority.
Rubens, the master of baroque painting, also dealt around the same time with the theme of the fruit-bearing satyr.
"Autumn" (circa 1615–1618), a monumental marble sculpture attributed to Pietro Bernini (1562–1629) and his son Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680), was offered as lot 121 in Sotheby's Fearless: The Collection of Hester Diamond Part I sale on January 29, 2021, in New York.
This work is a rare and significant early collaborative piece from the Bernini workshop, capturing the pivotal moment when the teenage Gian Lorenzo began to surpass his father's Mannerist style and forge the dynamic, expressive language of Baroque sculpture.
Description and Subject
- Medium and Dimensions: Carved from marble; height 49 ½ in. (125.5 cm).
- Subject: It personifies Autumn (one of the Four Seasons), likely depicted as a robust, allegorical male or draped figure laden with the bounty of the harvest—evoking ripeness, abundance, and seasonal transition through fruits, foliage, and organic forms integrated into the composition. The figure exhibits dramatic movement, twisting drapery, and lifelike texture typical of emerging Baroque innovation.
- Style and Technique: The sculpture blends Pietro's more restrained, late-Mannerist approach with Gian Lorenzo's revolutionary contributions: heightened dynamism, emotional expressiveness, virtuoso carving of flesh-like marble surfaces, flowing fabrics, and a sense of living energy. It marks Gian Lorenzo's early bravura—his ability to infuse stone with motion and psychological depth.
Provenance and Exhibition History
- Commissioned by Prince Leone Strozzi (d. 1632), one of the Berninis' earliest major Roman patrons, for the Villa Strozzi in Rome.
- Remained in the Strozzi family collection at the villa until the 19th century.
- Later entered a private collection in France.
- Acquired in 1988 by Anthony Roth, Ltd., London; purchased by Hester Diamond in 1991.
- Exhibited at: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2006); Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam ("Caravaggio - Bernini: Baroque in Rome," 2020).
Part of the single-owner sale "Fearless: The Collection of Hester Diamond Part I," which celebrated the late collector's eclectic taste in Old Masters, sculpture, and decorative arts. The total sale realized around $26.7–$28.6 million.
- Pre-Sale Estimate: $8,000,000 – $12,000,000 USD.
- Sale Result: Sold for $8.9 million USD (including buyer's premium), setting an auction record for works by Pietro and Gian Lorenzo Bernini (jointly or individually from this early period).
- This result underscored the sculpture's rarity—few surviving examples exist from Gian Lorenzo's formative years (c. 1615–1620)—and its status as a bridge between Renaissance/Mannerist traditions and full Baroque expression.
Created when Gian Lorenzo was about 17–20 years old, "Autumn" exemplifies his precocious genius. It stands alongside other early collaborations (e.g., works in the Getty Museum and Met) as evidence of his rapid evolution. The piece demonstrates the workshop dynamic: Pietro provided the commission and framework, but Gian Lorenzo's touch brought unprecedented vitality, foreshadowing masterpieces like Apollo and Daphne (1622–25) and The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa (1647–52).Its sale highlighted ongoing scholarly interest in early Bernini attributions and the high demand for Baroque sculpture at auction. References in major catalogues (e.g., by Irving Lavin, Andrea Bacchi, and others) affirm its place in Bernini studies.
Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598–1680) was the preeminent sculptor, architect, and artist of the Baroque era, often called the "father of Baroque sculpture." Born in Naples to a sculptor father, he moved to Rome as a child and dominated artistic commissions there for decades, especially under Popes Urban VIII, Innocent X, and Alexander VII. His work transformed sculpture by introducing dramatic movement, emotional intensity, theatrical lighting, and a sense of immediacy that engaged viewers dynamically—building directly on the innovations of Mannerist masters like Giambologna while pushing toward full Baroque expression.
Bernini's sculptures are celebrated for:
Many of his most iconic works were created for Cardinal Scipione Borghese and are now in the Galleria Borghese in Rome.
Bernini's sculptures are celebrated for:
- Mastery of marble to convey soft flesh, flowing drapery, wind-swept hair, and intense emotion.
- Multi-viewpoint compositions with spiraling forms and implied motion.
- Integration of sculpture with architecture and environment (e.g., in chapels or fountains).
- Ability to capture fleeting moments of transformation, ecstasy, or action.
Many of his most iconic works were created for Cardinal Scipione Borghese and are now in the Galleria Borghese in Rome.
- Apollo and Daphne (1622–1625): Depicts the climax of Ovid's myth where Apollo pursues Daphne, who transforms into a laurel tree to escape him. Bernini freezes the metamorphosis in marble—Daphne's fingers sprout leaves, her legs turn into bark—creating an astonishing illusion of motion and change. It's a pinnacle of Baroque dynamism.
- The Rape (Abduction) of Proserpina (1621–1622): Pluto seizes Proserpina; Bernini's fingers press into her thigh with lifelike softness, showing skin yielding to flesh. The twisting, multi-figural group echoes Giambologna but adds greater drama and realism.
- David (1623–1624): Unlike Michelangelo's contemplative David, Bernini's is mid-action—twisted body, intense grimace, sling taut—capturing the moment before the stone flies. It emphasizes energy and psychological tension.
- The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa (1647–1652, Cornaro Chapel, Santa Maria della Vittoria, Rome): Commissioned by the Cornaro family, this altarpiece shows Teresa in divine rapture as an angel pierces her heart with a golden arrow. Bernini combines sculpture, gilded rays, and theater-like staging with viewer "witnesses" (Cornaro family reliefs) to create an immersive, emotional experience.
- Fountain of the Four Rivers (Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, 1648–1651, Piazza Navona, Rome): An obelisk supported by colossal personifications of the four great rivers (Nile, Danube, Ganges, Rio de la Plata), surrounded by dynamic figures, animals, and cascading water. It symbolizes papal dominion over the world and integrates sculpture with fountain engineering.
#AuctionUpdate: Gian Lorenzo and Pietro Bernini’s beautiful and exceedingly rare marble sculpture of Autumn achieves $8.9 million – a new auction record for the artist. pic.twitter.com/uPs4thBXKY
— Sotheby's (@Sothebys) January 29, 2021
1640s Hercules by Tacca
2018 SOLD for £ 6.8M by Christie's
Pietro Tacca had the skills and the position to become one of the best sculptors of all time. He was unlucky. Disciple and then assistant to Giambologna in Florence, he succeeds the master in 1608. At the same time Baroque supersedes Mannerism.
Tacca designs groups in violent action as well as equestrian monuments, made in bronze by assembling elements. His statue of King Philip IV of Spain on a rearing horse only standing on its hind legs and tail is an unprecedented technical feat but the artist died in 1640 just before the installation of this masterpiece.
In 1612 the heir to the throne of England is the 18 years old Prince Henry. He communicates to the Grand Duke of Tuscany his interest in bronzes. Appealed by the idea of an easy support for a new alliance, the Grand Duke commissions to Tacca a set of groups illustrating the labours of Hercules.
Around 1614 Tacca prepares five models but the young English prince had died and the project no longer interests anyone. Twenty years later there were still arrears of payment.
It is not Pietro but his son Ferdinando who brings to perfection the art of the Florentine bronze, with a surface finish that simulates in a differentiated way the skin, the hair, the textile, the hide, the rock, the plant. The five groups of Hercules had remained unused. Ferdinando made the first bronzes of this series after the death of his father. The sculpture is out of fashion. Ten years later Ferdinando had become a theater machinist and an architect.
In 1681 the French King Louis XIV wishes to complete the education of his son and heir the Grand Dauphin. He gathers a collection of nine humanist minded bronzes including four groups of Hercules made in the 1640s by Ferdinando Tacca.
Released from the royal collections during the French Revolution, Hercules slaying the Acheloüs bull, 58 x 55 x 38 cm with a beautiful reddish-brown patina, was sold for $ 1.65M by Sotheby's on May 20, 1994 and for £ 6.8M by Christie's on July 5, 2018, lot 110.
Tacca designs groups in violent action as well as equestrian monuments, made in bronze by assembling elements. His statue of King Philip IV of Spain on a rearing horse only standing on its hind legs and tail is an unprecedented technical feat but the artist died in 1640 just before the installation of this masterpiece.
In 1612 the heir to the throne of England is the 18 years old Prince Henry. He communicates to the Grand Duke of Tuscany his interest in bronzes. Appealed by the idea of an easy support for a new alliance, the Grand Duke commissions to Tacca a set of groups illustrating the labours of Hercules.
Around 1614 Tacca prepares five models but the young English prince had died and the project no longer interests anyone. Twenty years later there were still arrears of payment.
It is not Pietro but his son Ferdinando who brings to perfection the art of the Florentine bronze, with a surface finish that simulates in a differentiated way the skin, the hair, the textile, the hide, the rock, the plant. The five groups of Hercules had remained unused. Ferdinando made the first bronzes of this series after the death of his father. The sculpture is out of fashion. Ten years later Ferdinando had become a theater machinist and an architect.
In 1681 the French King Louis XIV wishes to complete the education of his son and heir the Grand Dauphin. He gathers a collection of nine humanist minded bronzes including four groups of Hercules made in the 1640s by Ferdinando Tacca.
Released from the royal collections during the French Revolution, Hercules slaying the Acheloüs bull, 58 x 55 x 38 cm with a beautiful reddish-brown patina, was sold for $ 1.65M by Sotheby's on May 20, 1994 and for £ 6.8M by Christie's on July 5, 2018, lot 110.
1814 Teste Ideali by Canova
2018 SOLD for £ 5.3M by Sotheby's
Specialist in marble, Antonio Canova sculpts figures and monuments of extreme quality. His final art is preceded by models in clay and plaster.
Through a process developed by the artist, the finish is beautiful and brilliant, reaching the delicacy of a real skin. Canova explained his method of passing a brush dipped in sanded water on the surface and then cleaning with a sponge. The marble remains natural without adding pigments.
The busts of young women suit very well the perfection reached by Canova. From 1811 he proposes to his clients his Ideal Heads (Teste Ideali) to which he usually attributes mythological, historical, literary or allegorical denominations. Some of them are presented to patrons whom he wishes to honor.
In March 2012 a marble head is auctioned in London without identification of author, title and provenance. The buyer inspects it after the sale and identifies it as the Bust of Peace carved by Canova in 1814 while he was working on a full length statue on that theme for a Russian minister.
At this time the whole Europe is eager to end the Napoleonic wars. The Pope asks for help from Canova for the repatriation of looted art. The Bust of Peace is promised and then delivered by the artist to a British Lord involved in this project. The identification of the piece was lost by the descendants.
This bust 53 cm high including its white marble base was sold for £ 5.3M by Sotheby's on July 4, 2018, lot 25. The video below shows that its quality is real. It is surprising that no attribution was attempted in 2012.
Through a process developed by the artist, the finish is beautiful and brilliant, reaching the delicacy of a real skin. Canova explained his method of passing a brush dipped in sanded water on the surface and then cleaning with a sponge. The marble remains natural without adding pigments.
The busts of young women suit very well the perfection reached by Canova. From 1811 he proposes to his clients his Ideal Heads (Teste Ideali) to which he usually attributes mythological, historical, literary or allegorical denominations. Some of them are presented to patrons whom he wishes to honor.
In March 2012 a marble head is auctioned in London without identification of author, title and provenance. The buyer inspects it after the sale and identifies it as the Bust of Peace carved by Canova in 1814 while he was working on a full length statue on that theme for a Russian minister.
At this time the whole Europe is eager to end the Napoleonic wars. The Pope asks for help from Canova for the repatriation of looted art. The Bust of Peace is promised and then delivered by the artist to a British Lord involved in this project. The identification of the piece was lost by the descendants.
This bust 53 cm high including its white marble base was sold for £ 5.3M by Sotheby's on July 4, 2018, lot 25. The video below shows that its quality is real. It is surprising that no attribution was attempted in 2012.
Lost masterpiece by Antonio Canova appears at auction https://t.co/X719YtNAgs pic.twitter.com/qnGsGCaFoM
— ArtDaily, The First Art Newspaper on the Net (@artdaily) May 29, 2018
Tête by MODIGLIANI
Intro
Amedeo Modigliani is a young Italian immigrant who is learning the tendencies of modern art in Paris at the Bateau-Lavoir. From his meeting with Brancusi he discovers the sculpture in direct carving, perfectly suited to his skills : Modi operates quickly and without rework.
Brancusi is one of the greatest innovators of sculpture. Reacting against the realistic details of clay and bronze, he is the first to seek beauty through basic and simplified forms that will lead him up to abstraction.
Modigliani is easily convinced by Brancusi that the direct stone carving may bring an utmost purity to art. Opposed to Rodin's realism, the two artists are attempting a conceptual art that their detractors include in the Cubism still highly disputed at that time.
From 1909 to 1914 Modigliani is obsessed with a unique project : to build a temple dedicated to feminine beauty. To provide a roof for his monument, he tirelessly draws figures of cariatides which he calls his columns of tenderness.
Brancusi and Modigliani find inspiration for their new styles in the antique and African arts. In 1910, Modi draws women topped with a tablette in reference to the Caryatids of the Erechtheion.
Around 1911 he finally exerts his indisputable skills for sculpture in a series of limestone and sandstone women's heads. These elongated heads with a long neck on a cubic base are similar to each other but details of the faces are different. His series of busts made in 1911 and 1912 will prepare his temple of art. The varied heights show that its overall design is far from fixed.
Art critics have searched for models and styles that have inspired the timeless beauty of Modigliani's women's heads. They are indeed a synthesis of all ages and all civilizations. They are simple as the Cycladic idols, noble as queens of Egypt, Mannerist as a Botticelli, mysterious as African masks, serene as deities, geometric like the art of his friend Brancusi. They are designed to be viewed as a group, such as the Cariatides of a Greek temple.
Modi is not yet famous. He uses limestone blocks taken from construction sites and carries them in a wheelbarrow to his modest studio in Montparnasse. His heads of women create around him a crowd of pure and stylized faces with the intense force of a tribal ceremony.
He carved about 25 heads. In 1911 five of them are recognizable by photography in his solo exhibition organized with the help of Brancusi in the vast workshop of Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso. In 1912 the Salon d'Automne aligns seven heads in the Cubist Hall. Only the artist in his small studio in Montparnasse, or some friends at an exhibition in 1911 or 1912, could breathe the mystical atmosphere of the whole.
In 1913 Modigliani feels that his project of temple is ready. He chooses to use marble and visits Carrara. He carved only one caryatid. His fragile health will not allow him to do more. He abandons his great project and becomes a portrait painter again. The bust heads were dispersed.
Modigliani carved the stone in direct cut. In 1914 he had to give up his vocation as a sculptor for reasons of health and money. His brush was as skilled as his chisel to express the purity of the curves, and he became the best portrait painter of Montparnasse.
Brancusi is one of the greatest innovators of sculpture. Reacting against the realistic details of clay and bronze, he is the first to seek beauty through basic and simplified forms that will lead him up to abstraction.
Modigliani is easily convinced by Brancusi that the direct stone carving may bring an utmost purity to art. Opposed to Rodin's realism, the two artists are attempting a conceptual art that their detractors include in the Cubism still highly disputed at that time.
From 1909 to 1914 Modigliani is obsessed with a unique project : to build a temple dedicated to feminine beauty. To provide a roof for his monument, he tirelessly draws figures of cariatides which he calls his columns of tenderness.
Brancusi and Modigliani find inspiration for their new styles in the antique and African arts. In 1910, Modi draws women topped with a tablette in reference to the Caryatids of the Erechtheion.
Around 1911 he finally exerts his indisputable skills for sculpture in a series of limestone and sandstone women's heads. These elongated heads with a long neck on a cubic base are similar to each other but details of the faces are different. His series of busts made in 1911 and 1912 will prepare his temple of art. The varied heights show that its overall design is far from fixed.
Art critics have searched for models and styles that have inspired the timeless beauty of Modigliani's women's heads. They are indeed a synthesis of all ages and all civilizations. They are simple as the Cycladic idols, noble as queens of Egypt, Mannerist as a Botticelli, mysterious as African masks, serene as deities, geometric like the art of his friend Brancusi. They are designed to be viewed as a group, such as the Cariatides of a Greek temple.
Modi is not yet famous. He uses limestone blocks taken from construction sites and carries them in a wheelbarrow to his modest studio in Montparnasse. His heads of women create around him a crowd of pure and stylized faces with the intense force of a tribal ceremony.
He carved about 25 heads. In 1911 five of them are recognizable by photography in his solo exhibition organized with the help of Brancusi in the vast workshop of Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso. In 1912 the Salon d'Automne aligns seven heads in the Cubist Hall. Only the artist in his small studio in Montparnasse, or some friends at an exhibition in 1911 or 1912, could breathe the mystical atmosphere of the whole.
In 1913 Modigliani feels that his project of temple is ready. He chooses to use marble and visits Carrara. He carved only one caryatid. His fragile health will not allow him to do more. He abandons his great project and becomes a portrait painter again. The bust heads were dispersed.
Modigliani carved the stone in direct cut. In 1914 he had to give up his vocation as a sculptor for reasons of health and money. His brush was as skilled as his chisel to express the purity of the curves, and he became the best portrait painter of Montparnasse.
1
1911-1912
2014 SOLD for $ 71M by Sotheby's
On November 4, 2014, Sotheby's sold for $ 71M from an estimate in excess of $ 45M a bust 73 cm high including the base, lot 8. Please watch the video shared by the auction house. This specimen had been exhibited at the Salon d'Automne.
Grok thought from an ArtHitParade tweet :
Grok thought from an ArtHitParade tweet :
- This 2014 X post previews a rare limestone sculpture, "Tête" (Head of a Woman, 1911-1912) by Amedeo Modigliani, for Sotheby's New York sale on November 4, featuring an image of the elongated, archaic-inspired head that exemplifies his short-lived sculptural period.
- The work, one of fewer than 30 surviving Modigliani sculptures, fetched $70.7 million—exceeding its $45 million estimate and setting a then-record for his three-dimensional output—amid a blockbuster evening sale totaling over $365 million.
- @ArtHitParade 's focus on auction milestones underscores Modigliani's market dominance, with his sculptures prized for their African-influenced forms and scarcity, as most were destroyed in a 1917 heatwave to pay his debts.
2
1911
2010 SOLD for € 43M by Christie's
One of these statues, made of Parisian limestone, 64 cm high including the cubic base, was sold for € 43M from a lower estimate of € 4M by Christie's on June 14, 2010. It is shared in an article in French by Le Figaro.
This specimen had been exhibited by Souza-Cardoso and at the Salon d'Automne.
This specimen had been exhibited by Souza-Cardoso and at the Salon d'Automne.
3
1911-1912
2019 SOLD for $ 34M by Christie's
A 51 cm high Tête carved in limestone around 1911-1912 with no early exhibition history was sold for $ 34M by Christie's on May 13, 2019, lot 31A.
On May 13 we will offer Amedeo Modigliani’s limestone sculpture, 'Tête', circa 1911-1912, in our New York Evening Sale of Impressionist and Modern Art.
— Christie's (@ChristiesInc) April 18, 2019
Find out more: https://t.co/gMtuCZPqy8 pic.twitter.com/Tia9YIKeZC
Forme uniche della continuita nello spazio by BOCCIONI
1
masterpiece
1913 original plaster
museu de arte contemporanea, Sao Paulo
Marinetti creates the Manifesto del Futurismo in 1909. His strategy is to shock, for stopping the weakening of Italian culture and for creating new literary forms adapted to the modern civilization of speed and violence. The past must be forgotten.
In the following year, a group of young artists publishes another manifesto to apply these new ideas to painting. Umberto Boccioni is the theoretician of the group. Perhaps he appreciates that the expression of movement through painting is too difficult for the public. The centipede dog created by Balla in 1912 is a bit ridiculous.
Without neglecting the Futurist painting, Boccioni is now interested in sculpture, which he had never practiced before. He publishes solo in April 1912 a Manifesto tecnico della scultura futurista. He is also inspired by the Cubist fragmentations by Picasso and Duchamp-Villon.
Boccioni makes in 1913 three studies in plaster in which the movement is illustrated by a muscular extension. He then creates a man on the move which is a synthesis of his theories. For marking how much his approach is an incentive for a new art, he titles this figure Forme uniche della continuita nello spazio.
The Forme uniche has remained the only important sculpture by Boccioni, the artist who went too fast, died trampled by a horse in 1916. It expresses an extreme human energy while abandoning realism, and opens the way to Giacometti, Moore and also to the successive transformations of Matisse's Nu de dos and the humanoid robots of the movies. It was chosen in 1998 to illustrate the Italian coin of 20 cents of euro.
The four seminal sculptures by Boccioni were not edited during his lifetime. The first three were destroyed in 1927. The Forme uniche survived. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
In the following year, a group of young artists publishes another manifesto to apply these new ideas to painting. Umberto Boccioni is the theoretician of the group. Perhaps he appreciates that the expression of movement through painting is too difficult for the public. The centipede dog created by Balla in 1912 is a bit ridiculous.
Without neglecting the Futurist painting, Boccioni is now interested in sculpture, which he had never practiced before. He publishes solo in April 1912 a Manifesto tecnico della scultura futurista. He is also inspired by the Cubist fragmentations by Picasso and Duchamp-Villon.
Boccioni makes in 1913 three studies in plaster in which the movement is illustrated by a muscular extension. He then creates a man on the move which is a synthesis of his theories. For marking how much his approach is an incentive for a new art, he titles this figure Forme uniche della continuita nello spazio.
The Forme uniche has remained the only important sculpture by Boccioni, the artist who went too fast, died trampled by a horse in 1916. It expresses an extreme human energy while abandoning realism, and opens the way to Giacometti, Moore and also to the successive transformations of Matisse's Nu de dos and the humanoid robots of the movies. It was chosen in 1998 to illustrate the Italian coin of 20 cents of euro.
The four seminal sculptures by Boccioni were not edited during his lifetime. The first three were destroyed in 1927. The Forme uniche survived. The image is shared by Wikimedia.
2
1972 Boccioni's Man (posthumous)
2019 SOLD for $ 16.2M by Christie's
Two bronzes were created in 1931. One of them brings a refinement, a pedestal under each foot, which still increases the extreme dynamism of the figure. This configuration was cast in ten units in 1972.
A 117 cm high bronze with a gold patina from the 1972 edition was sold for $ 16.2M from a lower estimate of $ 3.8M by Christie's on November 11, 2019, lot 18 A. Despite its importance in the history of modern sculpture, this figure is extremely rare on the art market : no example had been offered at auction since 1975. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
A 117 cm high bronze with a gold patina from the 1972 edition was sold for $ 16.2M from a lower estimate of $ 3.8M by Christie's on November 11, 2019, lot 18 A. Despite its importance in the history of modern sculpture, this figure is extremely rare on the art market : no example had been offered at auction since 1975. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
1956 L'Idea del Cavaliere by Marini
2007 SOLD for $ 7M by Sotheby's
In his childhood Marino Marini admired the heroes of the equestrian statues from Marcus Aurelius up to the condottieri by Donatello. He regarded them as promises for a new civilization and they became one of the preferred themes of his art.
The first groups made by Marini were quiet and dignified. When Picasso required to Guernica's horse to howl against the war, Marini understood and followed. After the first kicks, the balance between his horses and their riders became precarious and even impossible.
A Piccolo Cavaliere 43 cm high executed in 1950 is a bronze chiseled and painted by the artist in shades of red, yellow and green. The angles are cubist. The beast, right on its four legs, is unseating the man by a proud jerk. It was sold for £ 760K by Sotheby's on October 16, 2009.
The horse is expelled from the post-war world by the car, with no hope for a return. Marini is horrified by his visit to New York in 1950. His version of the Cavaliere realized in 1951 is a prophecy of the fall of the modern world into a universal catastrophe similar as Sodom and Pompeii.
This group 1.22 m high is spectacular and tragic. The horse seems strong by his steady position on his four legs but he is screaming like in Guernica. The rider has lost any control. He is leaning backwards in stiffness and his arms are raised in a derisory gesture.
A Cavaliere in chiseled bronze with a brown and gray patina cast before 1953 by Battaglia in Milan was sold for $ 4.45M by Christie's in New York on November 16, 2016, lot 4 B. Another copy with a brown and gold patina was sold for £ 4.5M by Christie's on October 14, 2010.
On February 8, 2011, Sotheby's sold for £ 4.2M a bronze 2.20 m high executed in 1955, painted in red by the artist from an edition of four. Here the man is mastering the beast, but this one, neck stretched upwards, utters a roar worthy of a character in Guernica.
From the same model, Sotheby's sold for $ 7M on May 8, 2007 a polychrome wooden statue 2.16 m high, made in 1956, unique in this material, titled L'Idea del Cavaliere.
The first groups made by Marini were quiet and dignified. When Picasso required to Guernica's horse to howl against the war, Marini understood and followed. After the first kicks, the balance between his horses and their riders became precarious and even impossible.
A Piccolo Cavaliere 43 cm high executed in 1950 is a bronze chiseled and painted by the artist in shades of red, yellow and green. The angles are cubist. The beast, right on its four legs, is unseating the man by a proud jerk. It was sold for £ 760K by Sotheby's on October 16, 2009.
The horse is expelled from the post-war world by the car, with no hope for a return. Marini is horrified by his visit to New York in 1950. His version of the Cavaliere realized in 1951 is a prophecy of the fall of the modern world into a universal catastrophe similar as Sodom and Pompeii.
This group 1.22 m high is spectacular and tragic. The horse seems strong by his steady position on his four legs but he is screaming like in Guernica. The rider has lost any control. He is leaning backwards in stiffness and his arms are raised in a derisory gesture.
A Cavaliere in chiseled bronze with a brown and gray patina cast before 1953 by Battaglia in Milan was sold for $ 4.45M by Christie's in New York on November 16, 2016, lot 4 B. Another copy with a brown and gold patina was sold for £ 4.5M by Christie's on October 14, 2010.
On February 8, 2011, Sotheby's sold for £ 4.2M a bronze 2.20 m high executed in 1955, painted in red by the artist from an edition of four. Here the man is mastering the beast, but this one, neck stretched upwards, utters a roar worthy of a character in Guernica.
From the same model, Sotheby's sold for $ 7M on May 8, 2007 a polychrome wooden statue 2.16 m high, made in 1956, unique in this material, titled L'Idea del Cavaliere.
CATTELAN
1
2001 Him
2016 SOLD for $ 17.2M by Christie's
Maurizio Cattelan has no lack of humor when he shows his statuettes in unlikely situations. The public enjoys his child-sized self-portraits. He is also a social activist, fervently denouncing the hypocrisies.
His mockery of Catholicism comes in the following of the crucified frogs of Kippenberger. In 1999, he exhibited a life-size figure of Pope John Paul II crushed by a meteorite. The title, La Nona Ora, is a direct reference to the theology of Christ's death.
His most provocative work is Him, edited in 2001 in three units plus an artist's proof in wax, human hair, suit, polyester and pigments.
The kneeling character in a position of prayer has the size of a child but wears the gray suit of an adult in the outdated fashion of the 1930s. It is displayed for being at first viewed from behind. When reaching the front side, we recognize the figure of Hitler with his signature forelock and mustache. The viewer who had been tempted to laugh is now caught with the memory of the horrors of Nazism, which remains for many a taboo subject despite so many years.
The statements made by Cattelan unambiguously confirm that Him is an alert and not an apology. The attitude of this small Hitler looking like a penitent of Canossa does not eliminate the danger of racism and totalitarianism. For 15 years, Him has been widely viewed and discussed. The success of an exhibition in 2013 in the former Warsaw ghetto further indicates that this work must be perceived as a poignant request for peace.
The artist's proof was sold for $ 17.2M from a lower estimate of $ 10M by Christie's on May 8, 2016, lot 39 A. The essay of the catalog is significantly signed by a rabbi. The video shared by Christie's follows the correct way to show the work to reveal only at the ultimate moment the unsustainable and yet terribly current message.
His mockery of Catholicism comes in the following of the crucified frogs of Kippenberger. In 1999, he exhibited a life-size figure of Pope John Paul II crushed by a meteorite. The title, La Nona Ora, is a direct reference to the theology of Christ's death.
His most provocative work is Him, edited in 2001 in three units plus an artist's proof in wax, human hair, suit, polyester and pigments.
The kneeling character in a position of prayer has the size of a child but wears the gray suit of an adult in the outdated fashion of the 1930s. It is displayed for being at first viewed from behind. When reaching the front side, we recognize the figure of Hitler with his signature forelock and mustache. The viewer who had been tempted to laugh is now caught with the memory of the horrors of Nazism, which remains for many a taboo subject despite so many years.
The statements made by Cattelan unambiguously confirm that Him is an alert and not an apology. The attitude of this small Hitler looking like a penitent of Canossa does not eliminate the danger of racism and totalitarianism. For 15 years, Him has been widely viewed and discussed. The success of an exhibition in 2013 in the former Warsaw ghetto further indicates that this work must be perceived as a poignant request for peace.
The artist's proof was sold for $ 17.2M from a lower estimate of $ 10M by Christie's on May 8, 2016, lot 39 A. The essay of the catalog is significantly signed by a rabbi. The video shared by Christie's follows the correct way to show the work to reveal only at the ultimate moment the unsustainable and yet terribly current message.
2
2016 America
2025 SOLD for $ 12M by Sotheby's
America was edited by Maurizio Cattelan in 2016 as a declared edition of 3 plus 2 artist’s proofs. The number 2, 47 x 37.5 x 63.5 cm, weighing 101.2 kg of 18-karat gold, was sold for $ 12M by Sotheby's on November 18, 2025, lot 109. The video is shared by Euronews.
Grok thought :
Quote
Artprice.com @artpricedotcom Nov 22
Record at Sotheby’s: Maurizio Cattelan’s gold toilet “America” sold for $12.1 million @Sothebys #Artmarket #Artprice #ArtpriceNews https://artprice.com/artprice-news/12173/record-at-sotheby-s-maurizio-cattelan-s-gold-toilet-america-sold-for-12-1-million?utm_medium=artprice-news&utm_source=X&utm_campaign=news&utm_content=12173…
Asking Grok for the inspiration and purpose of the artist.
Maurizio Cattelan's "America" (2016) is a fully functional toilet sculpted from solid 18-karat gold, weighing over 100 kilograms. The piece draws direct inspiration from Marcel Duchamp's iconic readymade "Fountain" (1917), but subverts it by restoring the object's practical utility rather than removing it from everyday function—allowing viewers to interact with it intimately as a working fixture in public restrooms during installations.
The title references Franz Kafka's novel "Amerika," evoking themes of the American dream, while also nodding to Donald Trump's well-known affinity for gold-plated bathroom fixtures, adding a layer of political satire.
Cattelan's purpose with the work is multifaceted, serving as a sharp critique of wealth inequality, excess, and the commodification of art. It juxtaposes the toilet's universal, egalitarian function—accessible to all regardless of status—with its extravagant material value, highlighting how art can both democratize and underscore societal divides.
The artist has described it as a commentary on excess wealth, stating in a 2018 interview: “whatever you eat, a $200 lunch or a $2 hot dog, the results are the same, toilet-wise.”
More broadly, it winks at the art market's absurdities while reminding us of shared human physicality, breaking down barriers between artwork and audience through direct, bodily engagement. As Cattelan expert David Galperin notes, it "confronts the most uncomfortable questions about art, and the belief systems held sacred to the institutions of the market and the museum," unraveling a century of art history with humor and conceptual depth.
Asking Grok : America by Cattelan is an edition of 3 plus 2 artist’s proofs. Were they assembled simultaneously ? What did happen to each of them afterwards ?
Grok thought :
"America" by Maurizio Cattelan is declared as an edition of 3 plus 2 artist's proofs, all dated 2016.
However, only two versions have been fabricated to date.
Each was produced at a foundry in Florence, Italy, where it was molded, cast in several parts from 18-karat gold, and then welded together.
While not explicitly stated in sources, given that both extant versions were executed in 2016 and produced at the same foundry, they were likely assembled around the same time, if not simultaneously—though the first one experienced production delays before its installation.
As for what happened to each afterward:
It became part of the museum's permanent collection.
In September 2019, it was loaned to Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, England, for the exhibition "Victory is Not an Option," but was stolen on September 14, 2019, by thieves who ripped it from the plumbing, causing significant flooding.
The piece has never been recovered and is presumed to have been melted down for its gold value. In June 2025, two men were convicted and sentenced for the theft.
This version is currently being offered for sale at Sotheby's The Now & Contemporary Evening Auction on November 18, 2025, with an estimate available upon request (starting around $10 million based on gold value).
In contemporary art editions like this, additional pieces are often produced only as they are sold or requested.
Pre sale Grok thought :
Quote
Sotheby's @Sothebys Oct 31
Fashioned from just over 100 kilograms of solid 18k gold, ‘America’ has become one of the century’s most influential—and infamous—artworks.
Grok thought :
Quote
Artprice.com @artpricedotcom Nov 22
Record at Sotheby’s: Maurizio Cattelan’s gold toilet “America” sold for $12.1 million @Sothebys #Artmarket #Artprice #ArtpriceNews https://artprice.com/artprice-news/12173/record-at-sotheby-s-maurizio-cattelan-s-gold-toilet-america-sold-for-12-1-million?utm_medium=artprice-news&utm_source=X&utm_campaign=news&utm_content=12173…
- Maurizio Cattelan's "America" (2016), a fully functional 18-karat gold toilet weighing 101.2 kg, fetched $12.1 million at Sotheby's November 18, 2025, auction, exceeding its gold value of approximately $8 million and marking a record for the artist.
- The sculpture, a satirical critique of American excess originally proposed as a White House gift to Donald Trump in 2018, was stolen in 2019 from England's Blenheim Palace and recovered in 2021; this edition's sale underscores sustained demand for provocative conceptual art.
- Acquired by Ripley's Believe It or Not! for public display, the purchase highlights how quirky cultural artifacts can command premium prices in the contemporary art market, where symbolic value often surpasses material worth.
Asking Grok for the inspiration and purpose of the artist.
Maurizio Cattelan's "America" (2016) is a fully functional toilet sculpted from solid 18-karat gold, weighing over 100 kilograms. The piece draws direct inspiration from Marcel Duchamp's iconic readymade "Fountain" (1917), but subverts it by restoring the object's practical utility rather than removing it from everyday function—allowing viewers to interact with it intimately as a working fixture in public restrooms during installations.
The title references Franz Kafka's novel "Amerika," evoking themes of the American dream, while also nodding to Donald Trump's well-known affinity for gold-plated bathroom fixtures, adding a layer of political satire.
Cattelan's purpose with the work is multifaceted, serving as a sharp critique of wealth inequality, excess, and the commodification of art. It juxtaposes the toilet's universal, egalitarian function—accessible to all regardless of status—with its extravagant material value, highlighting how art can both democratize and underscore societal divides.
The artist has described it as a commentary on excess wealth, stating in a 2018 interview: “whatever you eat, a $200 lunch or a $2 hot dog, the results are the same, toilet-wise.”
More broadly, it winks at the art market's absurdities while reminding us of shared human physicality, breaking down barriers between artwork and audience through direct, bodily engagement. As Cattelan expert David Galperin notes, it "confronts the most uncomfortable questions about art, and the belief systems held sacred to the institutions of the market and the museum," unraveling a century of art history with humor and conceptual depth.
Asking Grok : America by Cattelan is an edition of 3 plus 2 artist’s proofs. Were they assembled simultaneously ? What did happen to each of them afterwards ?
Grok thought :
"America" by Maurizio Cattelan is declared as an edition of 3 plus 2 artist's proofs, all dated 2016.
However, only two versions have been fabricated to date.
Each was produced at a foundry in Florence, Italy, where it was molded, cast in several parts from 18-karat gold, and then welded together.
While not explicitly stated in sources, given that both extant versions were executed in 2016 and produced at the same foundry, they were likely assembled around the same time, if not simultaneously—though the first one experienced production delays before its installation.
As for what happened to each afterward:
- First version (likely edition 1/3 or an artist's proof, owned by the Guggenheim):
It became part of the museum's permanent collection.
In September 2019, it was loaned to Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, England, for the exhibition "Victory is Not an Option," but was stolen on September 14, 2019, by thieves who ripped it from the plumbing, causing significant flooding.
The piece has never been recovered and is presumed to have been melted down for its gold value. In June 2025, two men were convicted and sentenced for the theft.
- Second version (edition 2/3):
This version is currently being offered for sale at Sotheby's The Now & Contemporary Evening Auction on November 18, 2025, with an estimate available upon request (starting around $10 million based on gold value).
- Third edition and two artist's proofs:
In contemporary art editions like this, additional pieces are often produced only as they are sold or requested.
Pre sale Grok thought :
Quote
Sotheby's @Sothebys Oct 31
Fashioned from just over 100 kilograms of solid 18k gold, ‘America’ has become one of the century’s most influential—and infamous—artworks.
- Sotheby's thread announces the auction of Maurizio Cattelan's 2016 sculpture 'America', a functional 101kg 18-karat gold toilet valued as a satirical commentary on excess, with bids opening at its fluctuating gold weight price—approximately $6.5 million as of October 31, 2025—during the November 18 Contemporary Evening Auction in New York.
- For the first time, viewers can experience 'America' privately in a bathroom installation at Sotheby's new Breuer Building headquarters starting November 8, emphasizing its interactive absurdity amid the auction's high-stakes contemporary art scene.
