Gaddi Torso
Encyclopedia
The marble Gaddi Torso displayed in the Archaeological Room of the Uffizi
, Florence
, is a Hellenistic sculpture of the 2nd century BCE.
Formerly considered to be the torso of a satyr when it was in the Gaddi collection, Florence, the sculpture is now thought to represent a centaur
straining against his bonds, a theme that was represented several times in Hellenistic art, as it was an emblem of civilized control of Man's baser nature.
The torso was very likely discovered in Rome, according to Giovanni Di Pasquale and Fabrizio Paolucci. It was certainly already in the collections of the Florentine Gaddi family in the early 16th century, when Florentine artists and sculptors knew it. The sculpture appears on a pedestal, among other vestiges of shattered Classical pagan culture, in the Adoration of the Shepherds that was painted in 1515 by the Bolognese
painter Amico Aspertini
, now in the Uffizi. Rosso Fiorentino
's Deposition of the Dead Christ (Boston Museum of Fine Arts) has been inspired by careful study of the Gaddi Torso. Its powerful, reaching and twisting musculature was a stimulus also to the young Michelangelo
, whose mature style the Gaddi Torso seems to anticipate. The Gaddi Torso remained with the Gaddi heirs until it was sold, still in its untouched fragmentary condition, to Leopold I, Grand Duke of Tuscany
in 1778.
In its earlier history the Gaddi Torso may have been in the collection of the great early Renaissance sculptor of Florence, Lorenzo Ghiberti
, "who", according to Giorgio Vasari
,
In company with the Belvedere Torso
in the Vatican collections, the Gaddi Torso was never restored by being completed, a fate undergone by most other fine Antique fragmentary sculpture.
Uffizi
The Uffizi Gallery , is a museum in Florence, Italy. It is one of the oldest and most famous art museums of the Western world.-History:...
, Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, is a Hellenistic sculpture of the 2nd century BCE.
Description
Its dynamic tension and unusually refined modelling place it among sculptures of the Pergamene school.Formerly considered to be the torso of a satyr when it was in the Gaddi collection, Florence, the sculpture is now thought to represent a centaur
Centaur
In Greek mythology, a centaur or hippocentaur is a member of a composite race of creatures, part human and part horse...
straining against his bonds, a theme that was represented several times in Hellenistic art, as it was an emblem of civilized control of Man's baser nature.
The torso was very likely discovered in Rome, according to Giovanni Di Pasquale and Fabrizio Paolucci. It was certainly already in the collections of the Florentine Gaddi family in the early 16th century, when Florentine artists and sculptors knew it. The sculpture appears on a pedestal, among other vestiges of shattered Classical pagan culture, in the Adoration of the Shepherds that was painted in 1515 by the Bolognese
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
painter Amico Aspertini
Amico Aspertini
Amico Aspertini is an Italian Renaissance painter whose complex, eccentric, and eclectic style anticipates Mannerism. He is considered among the first of the Bolognese School of painting.-Biography:...
, now in the Uffizi. Rosso Fiorentino
Rosso Fiorentino
Giovanni Battista di Jacopo , known as Rosso Fiorentino , or Il Rosso, was an Italian Mannerist painter, in oil and fresco, belonging to the Florentine school.-Biography:...
's Deposition of the Dead Christ (Boston Museum of Fine Arts) has been inspired by careful study of the Gaddi Torso. Its powerful, reaching and twisting musculature was a stimulus also to the young Michelangelo
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...
, whose mature style the Gaddi Torso seems to anticipate. The Gaddi Torso remained with the Gaddi heirs until it was sold, still in its untouched fragmentary condition, to Leopold I, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
Leopold II , born Peter Leopold Joseph Anton Joachim Pius Gotthard, was Holy Roman Emperor and King of Hungary and Bohemia from 1790 to 1792, Archduke of Austria and Grand Duke of Tuscany from 1765 to 1790. He was a son of Emperor Francis I and his wife, Empress Maria Theresa...
in 1778.
In its earlier history the Gaddi Torso may have been in the collection of the great early Renaissance sculptor of Florence, Lorenzo Ghiberti
Lorenzo Ghiberti
Lorenzo Ghiberti , born Lorenzo di Bartolo, was an Italian artist of the early Renaissance best known for works in sculpture and metalworking.-Early life:...
, "who", according to Giorgio Vasari
Giorgio Vasari
Giorgio Vasari was an Italian painter, writer, historian, and architect, who is famous today for his biographies of Italian artists, considered the ideological foundation of art-historical writing.-Biography:...
,
"to say nothing of his own performance, bequeathed many relics of antiquity to his family, some in marble, others in bronze. Among these was the bed of Polycretus which was a most rare thing; a leg of bronze, of the size of life, with certain heads, male and female,and some vases, which Lorenzo had caused to be brought from Greece at no small cost. He also left the torsiTorsoTrunk or torso is an anatomical term for the central part of the many animal bodies from which extend the neck and limbs. The trunk includes the thorax and abdomen.-Major organs:...
of many figures, with a great number of similar things, which were all dispersed, like the property of Lorenzo, suffered to be destroyed and squandered. Some of these antiquities were sold to Messer Giovanni Gaddi, then 'Cherico di Camera'; and among them was the aforesaid bed of Polycletus, and some other matters, which formed the better part of the collection."
In company with the Belvedere Torso
Belvedere Torso
The Belvedere Torso is a fragment of a nude male statue, signed prominently on the front of the base by an Athenian sculptor "Apollonios son of Nestor", who is unmentioned in ancient literature...
in the Vatican collections, the Gaddi Torso was never restored by being completed, a fate undergone by most other fine Antique fragmentary sculpture.