Neptune
c. 1560
Medium
bronze
Dimensions
height: 49 cm (19 5/16 in.)
Classification
Sculpture
Department
CSD
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Robert H. Smith/Robert H. Smith Collection
Accession Number
2022.181.20
Art Historical Context
Behold the commanding bronze figure of *Neptune*, crafted around 1560 by the Florentine sculptor Baccio Bandinelli (149–1560). Standing at 49 cm tall, this dynamic statuette captures the Roman god of the sea in a poised, muscular stance, trident in hand, embodying the Renaissance fascination with classical mythology and heroic anatomy. Bandinelli, a prominent figure in the Mannerist movement, was known for his rivalry with Michelangelo and his service to the Medici family,using his works with dramatic tension and exaggerated forms. Bronze, a medium Bandinelli mastered through lost-wax casting...
About the Artist
Baccio Bandinelli · 1493–1560
Bandinelli was the son of Michelangelo de'Brandini, a successful Florentine goldsmith. Baccio was a loyal subject of the Medici, even when they were in exile 1494-1513; consequently he was rewarded by receiving commissions after the elections to the papacy of Leo X (Giovanni de' Medici) and Clement VII (Giulio de' Medici), and after Cosimo de' Medici became Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1537. His polit...