38
Candelabrum with
Mercury and Argus and
Candelabrum with
Perseus and Medusa
Ginori Porcelain Factory
(founded 1737)Doccia (near Florence)
Gaspero Bruschi (1701-1780) aftermodels by Giovanni Battista Foggini
(1652-1725)ca. 1750
Hard-paste porcelain, partially gilt
[.1] H (with socle): 45.5 cm (17^3 A in.)W: 34.5 cm (13 Vi in.)
D: 28 cm (11 in.)
[.2] H (with socle): 45.5 cm (17^3 A in.)
W: 33 cm (13 in.)
D: 28 cm (11 in.)
94.SE.76.1-. 2MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS
[.1] On the underside, against the wall, I, written
after manufacture.
[.2] On the underside, against the wall, 11, written
after manufacture.CONDITION
Firing cracks through the undersides of bases
(figs. 38E, j). Mercury's caduceus and sword and
Perseus's sword are missing. The candlesticksockets had been broken off; they were reattached,
and the joins were repaired.PROVENANCE
Private collection, England, sold to D. Katz;
[Daniel Katz, London, sold to A. Moatti]; [Alain
Moatti, Paris, sold to the J. Paul Getty Museum,
1994].EXHIBITIONS
None.BIBLIOGRAPHY
[.1] GettyMusf 23 (1995): 122, no. ioi; Melegati
1996B, 26-37, pis. 1, ia, 2, 2a; Fusco 1997, 22.
[.2] Masterpieces 1997, 84, no. 64; Summary
Catalogue 2001, no. 376; Fogelman and Fusco
2002 , no. 33.THE SUBJECTS OF BOTH GROUPS derive from episodes
in Ovid's Metamorphoses. The scene of Mercury and Ar
gus (1: 668-721) is taken from the story of Jupiter's love
affair with the princess Io. When Juno, Jupiter's wife, be
came suspicious of the lovers, Jupiter changed his mis
tress into a cow to disguise her identity. To vex the
couple, Juno asked Jupiter for the cow as a gift. After
agreeing to his wife's request, Jupiter appointed the hun
dred-eyed giant Argus as Io's guardian. Io was so tor
mented, however, that Jupiter sent Mercury to kill Argusby lulling him to sleep and then cutting off his head.
Eventually, after promising Juno that he would no
longer pay Io any attention, Jupiter returned her to
human form. The figures of Perseus and Medusa de
rive from the famous episode (54: 773-803) in which the
hero surprised the snake-haired monster Medusa in her
sleep and, avoiding her deadly gaze by looking at her
reflection in his polished shield, decapitated her with
his curved sword.
The figures of these groups, caught at the most
dramatic moment of the action, are placed on rocky plat
forms with tufts of grass that sit on polychrome and par
tially gilt bases of elaborate scrolls, acanthus leaves, and
rocaille elements. Small urns embellished with green
leaves and gold decoration at each of the four corners
served as candle sockets.The figures were produced in the porcelain factory
founded at Doccia, near Florence, by Marquis Carlo
Ginori (1701-1757).^1 In 1735 Ginori began experiments
to produce porcelain from Italian clays, a feat that had
not been accomplished since the days of the Medici fac
tory in the late sixteenth century (see no. 36). Around
that time he lured Anreiter von Zirnfeld away from the
Viennese Du Pacquier factory to set up and run the
painting studio, with the Florentine sculptor Gaspero
Bruschi as chief modeler.
Giovanni Battista Foggini—sculptor to the grand
duke of Tuscany—first created the compositions of
these groups for execution in bronze (fig. 38L).^2 As de
pictions of violent struggle in a scenographic landscape
with gestures and drapery that amplify the theatricality
of the scene, they are typical of Foggini's late Baroque
style. After the artist's death in 1725 the piece-molds of
most of Foggini's bronzes passed to his son Vincenzo,
who also served as royal sculptor. By 1741 Ginori had be
gun to collect models and molds that he intended to use
in the production of porcelain figures, and his account
books reveal that in the following twelve years he re
peatedly commissioned Vincenzo Foggini to cast wax or
plaster models from his father's molds.^3
These groups may have served as the candelabra ele
ment in a larger table centerpiece. Scenes of decapitationOPPOSITE: 38 [.1]212