Attributed to Pietro Simoni da Barga (active c. 1571-1589), late 16th century Bacchus Bronze figure Resting on a circular, fully moulded base and a later blackened wooden pedestal H. 28 cm (11 in.) Comparative bibliography : G. de Nicola, Notes on the Museo Nazionale of Florence- II, The Burlington Magazine, vol. XXIX, December, 1916, pp. 363-73. W.L. Hildburgh. A Note on Some Small bronzes by Pietro da Barga, The Burlington Magazine, vol. XXXVII, no. 209 August,1920, pp. 78-9 and 83. A.M. Massinelli, I bronzi dello stipo di Cosimo I de' Medici Antichità Viva, vol. 26, 1987. Le Collezioni del Museo Nazionale di Napoli, Rome, 1989, pp. 174 - 75, figs. 138-39. J. Pope-Hennessy, Italian Renaissance Sculpture, 4th edn, London, 1996. A bronze figure of Bacchus, attributed to Pietro Simoni da Barga (active c. 1571 - 1589), late 16th century *Information for buyers: Lot from outside the EEC: to the commissions and taxes indicated in the general terms and conditions of purchase, import VAT (5.5% of the hammer price) must be added. *Information to the buyers : Lot from outside the EEC : an import tax (5,5 % of the hammer price) will be due, in addition to the commissions and taxes indicated in the general conditions of purchase. The bronze here by Pietro Simoni Da Barga is a variant of another work by the sculptor in the Museo Nazionale di Bargello, Florence (inv. no. 383), depicting Bacchus with two bunches of grapes, one held aloft and the other above a panther lying on the ground. Our version differs from the one in the Bargello in that the panther is missing and a loincloth has been added. The two casts may have come from two ancient satyrs, now in the Museo Nazionale di Napoli (inv. nos. 6331, 6332), standing on tiptoe holding bunches of grapes and tazzas. They were once part of the Farnese collection, then in Rome, and it was there that Da Barga would have seen them. It is therefore entirely possible that Da Barga was inspired by a source that has now been lost, or that he made this work from a collection of other examples from the ancient world (De Nicola, 1916, p. 370). Contemporary sources refer to Da Barga as Scultore di Sua Signoria Illustrissima - or Sculptor to His Eminence (op. cit., p. 369). Indeed, enthusiasts of sixteenth-century sculpture know the sculptor best as the artist who, between 1571 and 1588, created around 24 magnificent small-scale bronze versions of revered ancient works for Cardinal Ferdinand I de' Medici. These works were to be displayed in a cabinet commissioned by the cardinal from the painter Jacopo Zucchi around 1576. The cabinet did not survive the 18th century and 12 of the statuettes were transferred to Florence in 1769 (Massinelli, 1987, pp. 57-58). Ferdinando was a voracious collector of antiquities and incorporated the famous Della Valle-Capranica collections into his own. However, certain works, such as the Farnese Hercules and the Laocoon, were too famous and precious for the cardinal to afford. Perhaps this is why Ferdinando commissioned Da Barga to create a series of works inspired by his favourite antiquities that were not part of his collection. Da Barga's works all measure around 30 cm and some of them are listed in the Medici's "Inventari di Guardaroba" from 1571 to 1588.