RICCIO, Andrea

Arion is an antique warrior with dramatic expression and movement. The abundant production of Riccio, the foremost representative of Paduan sculpture of the period, borrows no more from the antique than a costume and theme, transposed by a rapid nervous sensitive personal style.

Riccio’s major project, the joint tomb of Girolamo and Marcantonio della Torre (d 1506 and 1511 respectively), in San Fermo Maggiore, Verona, is of uncertain date. The tomb was of a novel, specifically humanist form, with no overtly Christian iconography: a rectangular pedestal with a laudatory commemorative inscription beneath a table-like structure with four baluster legs and a top with an ornamented frieze. On it are seated four bronze sphinxes - similar to those on the Paschal candlestick - that support upon their backs a plain marble sarcophagus decorated only with eight rectangular narrative reliefs, and it is crowned with a curious double-sided bronze finial presenting death-masks of the two individuals countersunk into ornamentally framed oval recesses.

The reliefs are copies; the originals (now in Mus�e du Louvre, Paris) were removed by the French in 1796. They relate in a thoroughly classical narrative sequence the end of the career, the death, after-life and posthumous fame of a medical professor: a theme that could apply equally to either the older or younger of the deceased. The compositions are in some instances lifted from ancient Roman sarcophagi, and the dramatis personae are universally idealized, tall, slim and elegant, whether nude or draped, and accompanied with a number of playful putti. Elsewhere, winged infants represent the soul of the deceased being ferried across the River Styx and being led into the Elysian Fields. The architectural backgrounds are austerely Classical; the tomb itself features in one scene, which shows that the finial was originally flanked by six bronze seated putti (untraced). The final panel shows a gorgeous winged figure of Fame balancing on a globe, trumpeting in triumph over Death, shown as a skeleton, with Pegasus striking the ground with his hoof and creating the spring Hippocrene, fount of the Muses.

The reliefs Riccio executed for the Della Torre monument are the sculptural equivalents in Northern Italy of Raphael’s tapestry cartoons, and they are among the most explicit expressions of High Renaissance Classicism in all Italy.

The eight reliefs are the following.

1. Della Torre Teaching
2. Illness of Della Torre
3. Sacrifice to Aesculapius
4. Death of Della Torre
5. Funeral of Della Torre
6. Descent of Della Torre’s Soul into the Underworld
7. The Soul’s arrival in the Elysian Fields
8. The Triumph of Humanist Virtue

The plain marble sarcophagus is decorated with eight rectangular narrative reliefs which relate in a thoroughly classical narrative sequence the end of the career, the death, after-life and posthumous fame of a medical professor: a theme that could apply equally to either the older (Girolamo, d. 1506) or the younger (Marcantonio, d. 1511) Della Torre.

The picture shows Della Torre Teaching. The narrative presents Della Torre instructing a small group of students. Seated in front of a palm tree and at the feet of a statue of Minerva, the professor holds an open book from which he lectures. At his feet are more objects of learning - a book and an armillary sphere. The statue of Minerva illustrates that this is place of learning and wisdom and may also be understood to identify the discipline of the professor as that of medicine. Behind the professor are four somewhat enigmatic figures.

The plain marble sarcophagus is decorated with eight rectangular narrative reliefs which relate in a thoroughly classical narrative sequence the end of the career, the death, after-life and posthumous fame of a medical professor: a theme that could apply equally to either the older (Girolamo, d. 1506) or the younger (Marcantonio, d. 1511) Della Torre.

The picture shows the Illness of Della Torre. The scene is set outdoors, with draped clothing serving as the backdrop; Della Torre, his health failing him, is assisted onto a bed by attendants. While these attendants minister to the naked professor in the centre of the panel; on the left, the precariousness of his illness is fully illustrated by the presence of the Fates.

The picture shows the Illness of Della Torre. In this scene we see Della Torre seated naked on a couch, receiving succour from the friends. Apollo presides over the scene, and on the left Atropos severs the thread of Della Torre’s life. Yet the language of the relief is so simple, so natural, so transparently sincere, that the imagery is acceptable on a Christian as well as a pagan plane.

The plain marble sarcophagus is decorated with eight rectangular narrative reliefs which relate in a thoroughly classical narrative sequence the end of the career, the death, after-life and posthumous fame of a medical professor: a theme that could apply equally to either the older (Girolamo, d. 1506) or the younger (Marcantonio, d. 1511) Della Torre.

The picture shows the Sacrifice to Aesculapius. In the third panel, a sacrifice is made on behalf of Della Torre. A large group of people, predominantly male, have gathered outside a temple for the sacrificial rites. The fire burns atop the sacrificial altar as two libations are gently poured onto the altar. Behind the altar is the fa�ade of a temple with Ionic columns; there are palm trees on each side of the temple, highlighting the central placement of the temple and the altar in the panel.

The plain marble sarcophagus is decorated with eight rectangular narrative reliefs which relate in a thoroughly classical narrative sequence the end of the career, the death, after-life and posthumous fame of a medical professor: a theme that could apply equally to either the older (Girolamo, d. 1506) or the younger (Marcantonio, d. 1511) Della Torre.

The picture shows the Death of Della Torre. The scene is set in an interior space and is lit by torches. A large group of family and friends is gathered around the professor as his body is laid to rest upon his death bed. At the foot of the bed stands a priest, donned in more contemporary clothing than the other figures and holding an open book; he appears to have given the last rites.

The plain marble sarcophagus is decorated with eight rectangular narrative reliefs which relate in a thoroughly classical narrative sequence the end of the career, the death, after-life and posthumous fame of a medical professor: a theme that could apply equally to either the older (Girolamo, d. 1506) or the younger (Marcantonio, d. 1511) Della Torre.

The picture shows the Funeral of Della Torre. It includes a representation of the tomb, which bears a striking resemblance to the tomb Riccio designed for the Della Torre. Slightly offset to the left, the funerary monument surrounded by two groups of mourners takes up much of the space in the funeral scene.

The plain marble sarcophagus is decorated with eight rectangular narrative reliefs which relate in a thoroughly classical narrative sequence the end of the career, the death, after-life and posthumous fame of a medical professor: a theme that could apply equally to either the older (Girolamo, d. 1506) or the younger (Marcantonio, d. 1511) Della Torre.

The picture shows the Descent of Della Torre’s Soul into the Underworld. The scene is divided in the centre by a tall elm tree: on the right, there is the river and the souls waiting to cross it; on the left, the mouth of Tartarus. A sinister group of figures is crowded around the entrance of Tartarus. In the lower left corner, an elderly man personifying Death is in a deep sleep; the figure of Fear, in the form of a lion, stands at his feet; slumbering at the base of the elm tree, with chimera and centaurs behind him, is the personification of Sleep. In the lower right corner, the Soul boards Charon’s boat to make his journey to the Elysian Fields.

The plain marble sarcophagus is decorated with eight rectangular narrative reliefs which relate in a thoroughly classical narrative sequence the end of the career, the death, after-life and posthumous fame of a medical professor: a theme that could apply equally to either the older (Girolamo, d. 1506) or the younger (Marcantonio, d. 1511) Della Torre.

The picture shows the Soul’s arrival in the Elysian Fields. The scene is set in a verdant grove, with an array of lush trees in the background. The Elysian Fields are filled with merriment as the inhabitants of paradise sing, dance, and make music. In the foreground, the Soul is led through the garden by a guide who shows him the delights of Elysium. Behind the Soul, other young souls dance to the music created by their companions.

The plain marble sarcophagus is decorated with eight rectangular narrative reliefs which relate in a thoroughly classical narrative sequence the end of the career, the death, after-life and posthumous fame of a medical professor: a theme that could apply equally to either the older (Girolamo, d. 1506) or the younger (Marcantonio, d. 1511) Della Torre.

The picture shows The Triumph of Humanist Virtue. The panel depicts a gorgeous winged figure of Fame balancing on a globe, trumpeting in triumph over Death, shown as a skeleton, with Pegasus striking the ground with his hoof and creating the spring Hippocrene, fount of the Muses.

The commission for a series of four bronze reliefs showing the Legend of the True Cross (Venice, Ca’ d’Oro) dates from the period between 1500 and 1507. The reliefs were originally built into the altar of the Holy Cross in Santa Maria dei Servi, Venice, which housed a shrine for a relic of the True Cross presented to the church in 1492 by Girolamo Donato (1454–1511), a diplomat who was active in Venice principally between 1501 and 1509.

The four reliefs represent the scenes (i) Finding of the Cross, (ii) Trial of the True Cross, (iii) Vision of Constantine and (iv) Victory of Constantine.

Andrea Riccio worked in terracotta and bronze, mostly on the small scale of statuettes, plaquettes and elegant domestic items such as inkstands and oil lamps. Usually regarded as the greatest exponent of this kind of work, he was a specialist in rendering themes of Classical mythology to the satisfaction of the erudite humanist professors of Padua University.

In the half-human, half-animal features of the mythical race of satyrs, Andrea Briosco, called Riccio, found great expressive potential. Furthermore, the creatures’ classical associations appealed to the sculptor’s learned clientele, who purchased the bronze statuettes that were his preferred medium. These diminutive objects could also be made into useful desktop equipment for writing or lighting by placing containers for ink, sand, or oil in the satyrs’ arms. A hole in the shell shouldered by the present figure may have held a chain to tether a snuffer for candles stuck on the lamp’s pricket, while the gadrooned vase under his right arm would have contained ink. Although it seems almost oversize for its purpose, the statuette was nevertheless a practical object: the lamp was raised high enough to cast a wide light, and the ink was proffered at a reasonable level to dip in a quill.

It is now generally accepted, that this figure, which had long been identified as a satyr, in fact represents Pan, the Greek deity with legs and horns of a goat, whose power over nature could sow panic or stir creation. The flaming oil and ink thus must symbolize both his sway over the elements and the inspiration sought by any scholar who read and wrote with their aid. While functional, it is above all a powerful sculpture. Against the limited group of autograph works by Riccio in this category and the extensive number of workshop productions, this one stands out on account of its large size and forceful presence.

This statuette is modeled after an antique marble statue. It could be made into useful desktop equipment for writing or lighting by placing containers for ink, sand, or oil in the satyr’s arms. Like many early 16th-century bronzes, it was designed and balanced to stand on any surface with no help. The highly activated surfaces of the bronzes for which he was famed reflect Riccio’s training as a goldsmith.

In March 1507, the month he finished the reliefs for the choir of the Santo in Padua, Riccio received another commission from the same church for the work which is his masterpiece, a monumental bronze Paschal candlestick. It was not completed until 1516, after interruptions caused by the war of the League of Cambrai. Riccio designed it as a steeply tapering pyramidal pedestal of two main figurated zones - each with a plinth decorated with smaller reliefs, as well as engaged statuettes projecting diagonally from the corners - while a cylindrical form prevails above, with two superimposed drums intercalated with baluster shapes, again with multiple reliefs, ornaments and addorsed statuettes. The whole is capped with a gadrooned drip-pan. It is thus divided into eight principal zones, incorporating an amazing compendium of a few Christian narrative and allegorical themes interspersed with myriad mythological figures, and, what is most remarkable in such a sacred context, its profile is enlivened with such pagan and suggestive creatures as sphinxes, satyrs, griffins and centaurs.

The incorporation of pagan motifs in the work is explained by the Neo-Platonic, humanist environment of the university town of Padua in which it was conceived: the commission was proposed by a philosopher, Giambattista Leone, who owned Riccio’s drawing for it and persuaded Antonio Trombetta (d. 1518), the abbot of the adjacent monastery, to countenance its totally unorthodox iconography.

Riccio’s Paschal candlestick is one of the most ingeniously composed and intellectually enigmatic artistic complexes of all time. It is not as widely known as it deserves, nor has it been properly studied, probably just because of a traditional prejudice that bronze artefacts, because they have a function, do not qualify as works of ‘fine art’. With its multiplicity of reliefs, figures and ornamental motifs, the candlestick also provides the touchstone for attributing to Riccio’s hand a good number of independent and otherwise undocumented statuettes, plaquettes and artefacts.

The candlestick rests on an ornamentally carved marble base, so that the bottom plinth is at eye level; it is unashamedly pagan, with four friezes of marine scenes very like Mantegna, other mythological scenes with monstrous creatures, and four large winged sphinxes at the angles. According to a later 16th-century interpretation, the sphinxes represented Astrology, Music, Historiography and Cosmography (geography). Above them are four large panels, three of which show standard themes appropriate to a candlestick that was to be lit on Easter Day: the Adoration of the Magi, Entombment and Descent into Limbo. The last panel, however, depicts a most peculiar, pagan-looking Sacrifice at an Altar Crowned with a Statuette of the Risen Christ, rather than a straightforward depiction of the Resurrection, the event that is crucial in Christian belief and that occurred at Easter.

Riccio (“curly-haired”) was one of the greatest bronzists of the early sixteenth century, although his types and techniques are largely late fifteenth. He was trained as a goldsmith and sculptor in terracotta. His superb bronzes with subtly worked surfaces are unique, and were directly cast using a modelled core, a technical innovation.

Riccio evoked poetically the world of pagan mythology and bestowed on the satyr a popularity it never enjoyed in antiquity. The Satyr with an Amphora and Shell was used as a candle-holder.

This bronze oil lamp, the so-called ‘Cadogan Lamp’ is in the form of an ancient galley, on the sides of which are groups of sea gods and medallions and on the cover is a statuette of a cupid mounted on a dolphin. Many oil lamps have decoration that carries symbolic meaning and is now difficult to interpret. Here one side shows the Fall of Ignorant Humanity, in the form of a fat woman flanked by two females. The other, with a youth blowing a horn into a billowing sail, represents the motto ‘make haste slowly’. Usually described as a galley, this ship is in fact a fantastical vessel.

Although members of Riccio’s workshop and followers issued, on a level of mass production, bronze oil lamps as well as inkwells and candlesticks, Riccio himself produced only a handful of them, including some unique oil lamps, which transcend utility to become masterpieces. Three superlative examples of them are the Rothschild Lamp (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), the Morgan Lamp (Frick Collection, New York) and the Cadogan Lamp (Victoria and Albert Museum, London).

Though a functional object, this elaborate lamp is above all a work of art, designed to take its place alongside other collectibles in a scholar’s study that would have primarily been illuminated by candlelight.

Although members of Riccio’s workshop and followers issued, on a level of mass production, bronze oil lamps as well as inkwells and candlesticks, Riccio himself produced only a handful of them, including some unique oil lamps, which transcend utility to become masterpieces. Three superlative examples of them are the Rothschild Lamp (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), the Morgan Lamp (Frick Collection, New York) and the Cadogan Lamp (Victoria and Albert Museum, London).

Although members of Riccio’s workshop and followers issued, on a level of mass production, bronze oil lamps as well as inkwells and candlesticks, Riccio himself produced only a handful of them, including some unique oil lamps, which transcend utility to become masterpieces. Three superlative examples of them are the Rothschild Lamp (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), the Morgan Lamp (Frick Collection, New York) and the Cadogan Lamp (Victoria and Albert Museum, London).

This is an unusual treating of the popular subject of the period. Its source is not Ovid but Horace whose collected works were published in Padua at the end of the 15th century.

Andrea Riccio trained first as a goldsmith. He owes his renown to the bronze statuettes and functional objects he cast for a small circle of clients, particularly in his native Padua. Although members of his workshop and followers issued, on a level of mass production, bronze oil lamps as well as inkwells and candlesticks, Riccio himself produced only a handful of them, including some unique oil lamps, which transcend utility to become masterpieces. Long in the collection of the Rothschild family, this is one of three superlative examples of its kind; the others are the Morgan Lamp (Frick Collection, New York) and the Cadogan Lamp (Victoria and Albert Museum, London). The three share many motifs, but with fertile imagination Riccio incorporated them into each lamp in such a way that they seem to be in constant state of flux, changing their guise from one object to the other before our eyes.

While its owners may have prized it too highly to use it for lighting, this is a functional oil lamp.

Andrea Riccio trained first as a goldsmith. He owes his renown to the bronze statuettes and functional objects he cast for a small circle of clients, particularly in his native Padua. Although members of his workshop and followers issued, on a level of mass production, bronze oil lamps as well as inkwells and candlesticks, Riccio himself produced only a handful of them, including some unique oil lamps, which transcend utility to become masterpieces. Long in the collection of the Rothschild family, this is one of three superlative examples of its kind; the others are the Morgan Lamp (Frick Collection, New York) and the Cardogan Lamp (Victoria and Albert Museum, London). The three share many motifs, but with fertile imagination Riccio incorporated them into each lamp in such a way that they seem to be in constant state of flux, changing their guise from one object to the other before our eyes.

While its owners may have prized it too highly to use it for lighting, this is a functional oil lamp.

Andrea Riccio trained first as a goldsmith. He owes his renown to the bronze statuettes and functional objects he cast for a small circle of clients, particularly in his native Padua. Although members of his workshop and followers issued, on a level of mass production, bronze oil lamps as well as inkwells and candlesticks, Riccio himself produced only a handful of them, including some unique oil lamps, which transcend utility to become masterpieces. Long in the collection of the Rothschild family, this is one of three superlative examples of its kind; the others are the Morgan Lamp (Frick Collection, New York) and the Cardogan Lamp (Victoria and Albert Museum, London). The three share many motifs, but with fertile imagination Riccio incorporated them into each lamp in such a way that they seem to be in constant state of flux, changing their guise from one object to the other before our eyes.

While its owners may have prized it too highly to use it for lighting, this is a functional oil lamp.

The warrior wearing armour of an antique fashion, is seated on a pacing horse, his head turned to the right his mouth open in a fierce grimace. His right hand holds the hilt of a broken sword, his left is extended to hold a missing sceptre. The helmet is decorated with shells, children and fantastic monsters. The cuirass has a winged grotesque figure. The horse has a short curling mane and an elaborately knotted tail. The surface is mainly treated by hammering.

Riccio developed from his master’s (Bartolommeo Bellano’s) style the synthesis of subtle variations of surface working and infinite ingenuity of design for which he is justly famed. The rich, soft surface modelling, enlivened by brilliant work with chisel and punch, makes his Shouting Horseman one of the great masterpieces of High Renaissance classicism, and an equestrian monument in miniature.

This bronze was repaired and repatinated in the 19th century.

The commission for a series of four bronze reliefs showing the Legend of the True Cross (Venice, Ca’ d’Oro) dates from the period between 1500 and 1507. The reliefs were originally built into the altar of the Holy Cross in Santa Maria dei Servi, Venice, which housed a shrine for a relic of the True Cross presented to the church in 1492 by Girolamo Donato (1454–1511), a diplomat who was active in Venice principally between 1501 and 1509.

The four reliefs represent the scenes (i) Finding of the Cross, (ii) Trial of the True Cross, (iii) Vision of Constantine and (iv) Victory of Constantine.

The serpentine pose; sloping shoulders; small, disklike breasts; taut arms, legs, and abdomen; and sweet countenance of the woman, who tilts her head while covering her sex with her left hand, are features found in late fifteenth-century Italian bronzes after the antique. The Venus attributed to Riccio represents this type, including the twin corkscrew curls falling on her shoulders and the decorative headband typical of northern Italian ‘all’antica’ images of ideal beauty.

The commission for a series of four bronze reliefs showing the Legend of the True Cross (Venice, Ca’ d’Oro) dates from the period between 1500 and 1507. The reliefs were originally built into the altar of the Holy Cross in Santa Maria dei Servi, Venice, which housed a shrine for a relic of the True Cross presented to the church in 1492 by Girolamo Donato (1454–1511), a diplomat who was active in Venice principally between 1501 and 1509.

The four reliefs represent the scenes (i) Finding of the Cross, (ii) Trial of the True Cross, (iii) Vision of Constantine and (iv) Victory of Constantine.

The commission for a series of four bronze reliefs showing the Legend of the True Cross (Venice, Ca’ d’Oro) dates from the period between 1500 and 1507. The reliefs were originally built into the altar of the Holy Cross in Santa Maria dei Servi, Venice, which housed a shrine for a relic of the True Cross presented to the church in 1492 by Girolamo Donato (1454–1511), a diplomat who was active in Venice principally between 1501 and 1509.

The four reliefs represent the scenes (i) Finding of the Cross, (ii) Trial of the True Cross, (iii) Vision of Constantine and (iv) Victory of Constantine.

The statue shows a she-goat milked by a naked youth, which represents the goat Amalthea feeding the infant Jupiter.