Giovanni Francesco Susini
Encyclopedia
Giovanni Francesco Susini (Florence
c 1585 Florence
– after 17 October 1653) was a Mannerist Florentine
sculptor in bronze and marble, trained in the workshop of Giambologna
.
He continued to work in Giambologna's style, and Susini's sculpture was already mistaken for that of his master by the end of the century. His uncle, Antonio Susini, was the principal bronze-caster of Giambologna, and the young Francesco received early training as a junior member of Giambologna's workshop. A trip to Rome in 1624-26 gave him first-hand experience of classical antique
, 16th century, and the emerging Baroque
statuary, latter exemplified by Bernini
's youthful Apollo and Daphne, but his own Mannerist style was already matured. He made wax copies of the recently-discovered Borghese Hermaphroditus
for casting upon his return to Florence. His bronze reduction of the Laocoön
is likely based on the copy of it in Florence.
As a sculptor, Susini is known for some public commissions, such as the Fontana del Carciofo ("Artichoke Fountain", 1641), that stands centered with the piano nobile windows of the Palazzo Pitti
's garden façade. The model for this final ensemble, according to the chronicler of artists Filippo Baldinucci
, had been completed and approved in 1639; but like many productions for the Medici Grand Dukes, the fountain was a team project with a complicated history. For example, some of the putti
had already been sculpted by Susini and assistants by 1621.
His first independent Medici commission was a bronze bas-relief for a chapel altar in 1614. Medici patronage required teamwork: the sculptor Orazio Mochi (died 1625) was given the challenge—unlikely to have been the sculptor's choice— of turning a genre subject suited to painting, two players at the roughouse game of Sacchomazzone, into a sculpture for the Boboli Gardens
. Assisted at first by Romolo Ferrucci del Tadda (died 1621), Susini reduced the subject to a small bronze, and set it on a small oval plinth to emphasize the tour-de-force of wildly thrashing figures. Other Susini sculptures contribute to the over-all effect of the Boboli Gardens
: Cupid Breaking a Heart with a Hammer and Cupid Shooting an Arrow are part of the elaborate allegorical scheme of the "Island Basin" (the Vasca dell'Isola) located on the secondary axis. In 1615, he created the two acquasantiere of bronze on the columns in front of the main entrance of Santissima Annunziata.
Few Susini works bear his signature. A signed Bacchus is at the Louvre Museum. There are some signed bronze statuettes; the Abduction of Helen, signed and dated 1627 in the J. Paul Getty Museum
, Los Angeles; Venus Burning the Arrows of Love signed IO. FR. SUSINI-FLOR. F. MDC. XXXIX and Venus Chastising Love signed IO. FR. SUSINI FLOR. FAC. M. DC. XXXVIIII, both of which André Le Nôtre
gave to his patron Louis XIV
in 1693, together with a Gaul Committing Suicide that is inspired by a well-known a Hellenistic marble (all now at the Louvre).The bronze David with the Head of Goliath in the Liechtenstein Museum, Vienna, is signed FRAN.SVSINI F..
Susini continued to operate the family bronze foundry. According to Baldinucci, Giovanni and Antonio Susini continued to use Giambologna's models after the elder master's death to cast finely finished bronze sculptures for discerning patrons. Like Giambologna, Susini's own designs characteristically employ two or three figures in complicated, balanced relationships meant to be appreciated from multiple viewpoints, as represented by the Abduction of Helen (Dresden and Getty Museum), two versions of Venus and Love (Louvre), David with the Head of Goliath (Liechtenstein collection, Vaduz) an analogue of the Ludovisi Mars in Rome, or Venus and Adonis provide characteristic examples of Susini's finely cast and finished table sculptures, meant to be appreciated at close range and admired from all sides. Most of his output of small bronzes could be profitably sold and transported to buyers outside of Tuscany.
A theme of Giambologna's in which Susini excelled was the dynamic and age-old theme of animals in combat, for which Hellenistic prototypes, available to artists in Rome in rediscovered Roman copies, provided inspiration. For example, the first of the pair of bronzes, Lion Attacking a Horse and Leopard Attacking a Bull, given to Frick Collection
, New York, 2004, was inspired a fragmentary marble lion with torso of a horse, exhibited on the Campidoglio in the artist's lifetime.
Susini, Piero Francavilla, and Pietro Tacca
were contemporaries and pupils of Giambologna. Tacca is considered Giambologna's main pupil, and he worked mainly on larger bronzes.
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....
c 1585 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....
– after 17 October 1653) was a Mannerist Florentine
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....
sculptor in bronze and marble, trained in the workshop of Giambologna
Giambologna
Giambologna, born as Jean Boulogne, incorrectly known as Giovanni da Bologna and Giovanni Bologna , was a sculptor, known for his marble and bronze statuary in a late Renaissance or Mannerist style.- Biography :...
.
He continued to work in Giambologna's style, and Susini's sculpture was already mistaken for that of his master by the end of the century. His uncle, Antonio Susini, was the principal bronze-caster of Giambologna, and the young Francesco received early training as a junior member of Giambologna's workshop. A trip to Rome in 1624-26 gave him first-hand experience of classical antique
Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
, 16th century, and the emerging Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
statuary, latter exemplified by Bernini
Gian Lorenzo Bernini
Gian Lorenzo Bernini was an Italian artist who worked principally in Rome. He was the leading sculptor of his age and also a prominent architect...
's youthful Apollo and Daphne, but his own Mannerist style was already matured. He made wax copies of the recently-discovered Borghese Hermaphroditus
Hermaphroditus
In Greek mythology, Hermaphroditus or Hermaphroditos was the child of Aphrodite and Hermes. He was a minor deity of bisexuality and effeminacy. According to Ovid, born a remarkably handsome boy, he was transformed into an androgynous being by union with the water nymph Salmacis...
for casting upon his return to Florence. His bronze reduction of the Laocoön
Laocoön
Laocoön the son of Acoetes is a figure in Greek and Roman mythology.-History:Laocoön is a Trojan priest of Poseidon , whose rules he had defied, either by marrying and having sons, or by having committed an impiety by making love with his wife in the presence of a cult image in a sanctuary...
is likely based on the copy of it in Florence.
As a sculptor, Susini is known for some public commissions, such as the Fontana del Carciofo ("Artichoke Fountain", 1641), that stands centered with the piano nobile windows of the Palazzo Pitti
Palazzo Pitti
The Palazzo Pitti , in English sometimes called the Pitti Palace, is a vast mainly Renaissance palace in Florence, Italy. It is situated on the south side of the River Arno, a short distance from the Ponte Vecchio...
's garden façade. The model for this final ensemble, according to the chronicler of artists Filippo Baldinucci
Filippo Baldinucci
Filippo Baldinucci was an Italian art historian and biographer.-Life:Baldinucci is considered among the most significant Florentine biographers/historians of the artists and the arts of the Baroque period...
, had been completed and approved in 1639; but like many productions for the Medici Grand Dukes, the fountain was a team project with a complicated history. For example, some of the putti
Putto
A putto is a figure of an infant often depicted as a young male. Putti are defined as chubby, winged or wingless, male child figure in nude. Putti are distinct from cherubim, but some English-speakers confuse them with each other, except that in the plural, "the Cherubim" refers to the biblical...
had already been sculpted by Susini and assistants by 1621.
His first independent Medici commission was a bronze bas-relief for a chapel altar in 1614. Medici patronage required teamwork: the sculptor Orazio Mochi (died 1625) was given the challenge—unlikely to have been the sculptor's choice— of turning a genre subject suited to painting, two players at the roughouse game of Sacchomazzone, into a sculpture for the Boboli Gardens
Boboli Gardens
The Boboli Gardens are a park in Florence, Italy, that is home to a collection of sculptures dating from the 16th through the 18th centuries, with some Roman antiquities.-History and layout:...
. Assisted at first by Romolo Ferrucci del Tadda (died 1621), Susini reduced the subject to a small bronze, and set it on a small oval plinth to emphasize the tour-de-force of wildly thrashing figures. Other Susini sculptures contribute to the over-all effect of the Boboli Gardens
Boboli Gardens
The Boboli Gardens are a park in Florence, Italy, that is home to a collection of sculptures dating from the 16th through the 18th centuries, with some Roman antiquities.-History and layout:...
: Cupid Breaking a Heart with a Hammer and Cupid Shooting an Arrow are part of the elaborate allegorical scheme of the "Island Basin" (the Vasca dell'Isola) located on the secondary axis. In 1615, he created the two acquasantiere of bronze on the columns in front of the main entrance of Santissima Annunziata.
Few Susini works bear his signature. A signed Bacchus is at the Louvre Museum. There are some signed bronze statuettes; the Abduction of Helen, signed and dated 1627 in the J. Paul Getty Museum
J. Paul Getty Museum
The J. Paul Getty Museum, a program of the J. Paul Getty Trust, is an art museum. It has two locations, one at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California, and one at the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California...
, Los Angeles; Venus Burning the Arrows of Love signed IO. FR. SUSINI-FLOR. F. MDC. XXXIX and Venus Chastising Love signed IO. FR. SUSINI FLOR. FAC. M. DC. XXXVIIII, both of which André Le Nôtre
André Le Nôtre
André Le Nôtre was a French landscape architect and the principal gardener of King Louis XIV of France...
gave to his patron Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
in 1693, together with a Gaul Committing Suicide that is inspired by a well-known a Hellenistic marble (all now at the Louvre).The bronze David with the Head of Goliath in the Liechtenstein Museum, Vienna, is signed FRAN.SVSINI F..
Susini continued to operate the family bronze foundry. According to Baldinucci, Giovanni and Antonio Susini continued to use Giambologna's models after the elder master's death to cast finely finished bronze sculptures for discerning patrons. Like Giambologna, Susini's own designs characteristically employ two or three figures in complicated, balanced relationships meant to be appreciated from multiple viewpoints, as represented by the Abduction of Helen (Dresden and Getty Museum), two versions of Venus and Love (Louvre), David with the Head of Goliath (Liechtenstein collection, Vaduz) an analogue of the Ludovisi Mars in Rome, or Venus and Adonis provide characteristic examples of Susini's finely cast and finished table sculptures, meant to be appreciated at close range and admired from all sides. Most of his output of small bronzes could be profitably sold and transported to buyers outside of Tuscany.
A theme of Giambologna's in which Susini excelled was the dynamic and age-old theme of animals in combat, for which Hellenistic prototypes, available to artists in Rome in rediscovered Roman copies, provided inspiration. For example, the first of the pair of bronzes, Lion Attacking a Horse and Leopard Attacking a Bull, given to Frick Collection
Frick Collection
The Frick Collection is an art museum located in Manhattan, New York City, United States.- History :It is housed in the former Henry Clay Frick House, which was designed by Thomas Hastings and constructed in 1913-1914. John Russell Pope altered and enlarged the building in the early 1930s to adapt...
, New York, 2004, was inspired a fragmentary marble lion with torso of a horse, exhibited on the Campidoglio in the artist's lifetime.
Susini, Piero Francavilla, and Pietro Tacca
Pietro Tacca
Pietro Tacca was an Italian sculptor, who was the chief pupil and follower of Giambologna. Tacca began in a Mannerist style and worked in the Baroque style during his maturity.-Biography:...
were contemporaries and pupils of Giambologna. Tacca is considered Giambologna's main pupil, and he worked mainly on larger bronzes.