Satyr with an Amphora and Shell

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.