Lancut Castle in Poland is home to a statue of a seated Mercury. It's perhaps one of the most curious ancient marble sculptures to have come out of Vincenzo Pacetti's restoration workshop. Until now, the earliest known reference to it was as late as the 1800s when Pacetti is reported as buying it. Now an unpublished drawing in the British Museum shows that it was on display in Rome at least as early as in the mid 1500s. It can be identified as the statue of Phryxus that Ulisse Aldrovandi noted in the gardens of Palazzo Podocataro. By knitting together the writings of Aldrovandi and Vasari an intentional iconographical layout of the garden's statuary emerges. The statue of Mercury could be seen "in conversation" with the statue of Bacchus seated next to a panther. The latter, now lost, had been in the Della Valle-Medici collection. Drawings on the back of the London document, and others on a second leaf by the same hand, provide new and precious information about the history of art collections and the restoration of some of the famous sculptures that were on display in the coutyard of the Della Valle Palace in Rome.
Gli Dei seduti. Su due statue antiche della collezione Podocataro e su alcuni marmi Della Valle
Anna Maria Riccomini
2019-01-01
Abstract
Lancut Castle in Poland is home to a statue of a seated Mercury. It's perhaps one of the most curious ancient marble sculptures to have come out of Vincenzo Pacetti's restoration workshop. Until now, the earliest known reference to it was as late as the 1800s when Pacetti is reported as buying it. Now an unpublished drawing in the British Museum shows that it was on display in Rome at least as early as in the mid 1500s. It can be identified as the statue of Phryxus that Ulisse Aldrovandi noted in the gardens of Palazzo Podocataro. By knitting together the writings of Aldrovandi and Vasari an intentional iconographical layout of the garden's statuary emerges. The statue of Mercury could be seen "in conversation" with the statue of Bacchus seated next to a panther. The latter, now lost, had been in the Della Valle-Medici collection. Drawings on the back of the London document, and others on a second leaf by the same hand, provide new and precious information about the history of art collections and the restoration of some of the famous sculptures that were on display in the coutyard of the Della Valle Palace in Rome.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
