PIAMONTINI, Giuseppe

Portraiture broadened considerably during the late Baroque period. Complementary to the imaginary portraits of anti-heroic types was the celebration of ideal beauty in female busts loosely based upon Classical prototypes. These were often commissioned to adorn palace interiors and are related to garden sculpture in that they strike Classical poses without being specifically related to a given prototype. The bust by Piamontini on the staircase of Palazzo Pitti in Florence epitomize this trend: their heads are vaguely Classical but their drapery retains a flicker of Baroque agitation.

A young faun is holding down a little goat-feeted satyr, while teasingly showing him a couple of bunches of grapes. The satyr replies by sticking out his tongue and making the vulgar and insulting gesture of putting his thumb between forefinger and index finger. Piamontini’s groups of playing satyrs and fauns were extremely popular, whether made in marble or bronze.

This splendid bronze group was given as a gift by the Palatine Electress Anna Maria Ludovica de’ Medici (1667-1743) to her servant, himself a member of the illustrious Florentine family Serristori.

This group is from the apartment of Grand Duke Ferdinando de’ Medici who was one of the most sophisticated members of the family. His premature death marked the decline of the dynasty.