Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
The Shepherd Daphnis Playing a Pipe
(Renaissance Europe )
The naturalism and lyricism of this bronze statuette make it a masterpiece of the Renaissance. Riccio (also known as Andrea Briosco), one of the greatest artists in this genre, was a member of the humanist circles of the university city of Padua. He excelled in creating small bronzes that captured the spirit of antiquity without resorting to copying. This is a shepherd from the mythic world of Arcadia, where satyrs, nymphs, gods, and humans lived together at ease. With the unfocused gaze of one lost in creative thought, he is Daphnis, who was taught to play the hollow reed pipe by the god Pan and became the inventor of pastoral poetry (poetry associated with shepherds) - a classical literary form revived in Padua during the Renaissance. There is a representation of Daphnis and Chloe together (42.97) by Henri Louis François, 1841-1896.
The nickname "Riccio" means "hedgehog" and refers to the sculptor's extremely curly, indeed bristly hair, confirmed in his Self Portrait (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna). It is very possible that he was in part of African ancestry.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Jacques Seligmann, Paris [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
| 2013-2014 | The Pageant of Venice: Art and Music in the Golden Age of the Serenissima. Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montréal; Portland Art Museum, Portland. |
| 2012 | Touch and the Enjoyment of Sculpture: Exploring the Appeal of Renaissance Statuettes. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. |
| 2008-2009 | Masterpieces in Bronze: Riccio, Sculptor of the Paduan Renaissance. The Frick Collection, New York. |
| 1995-1996 | Von allen seiten schön, Bronzen der Renaissance und des Barock. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin. |
| 1995 | The Allure of Bronze. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
| 1984 | The Taste of Maryland: Art Collecting in Maryland 1800-1934. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. |
| 1978 | Antiquity in the Renaissance. Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton. |
Conservation
| Date | Description | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| 7/7/1976 | Examination | examined for condition |
Geographies
Italy, Padua (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 8 3/8 in. (21.3 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
54.234