Scultura in Bronzo “Perseo con la testa di Medusa “

This bronze sculpture depicts Perseus, hero of Greek mythology, son of the king of the gods Zeus and Danae, caught in the act of raising the head of Medusa, whom he has just defeated by beheading her. 
The sculpture takes up the famous bronze group created by Benvenuto Cellini (Florence, 1500 – 1571), Florentine sculptor and goldsmith, protagonist of Mannerism, with "Perseus with the head of Medusa", created between 1545 and 1554, and still admirable today in its original location in the Loggia dei Lanzi in Piazza della Signoria in Florence.
Cellini's sculpture, 519 centimeters high with its base, immediately met with considerable success, both for the highly skilled technical mastery in the bronze casting operation and for the style which it reflected in the rendering of the composed and realistic figure but at the same time himself skilfully idealized, the classics of the Florentine Renaissance, especially Donatello.
The present sculpture, 108 centimeters high with the base, is a faithful reduced-scale copy of the original, dating back to between the end of the 19th century and the first years of the 20th century, and created with an accurate casting that renders every detail with a marked realism , all enhanced by an eye-catching glossy patina of the bronze surface.
This sculpture can be included in that production of Renaissance and sixteenth-century copies of famous masterpieces which had a flourishing market from the mid-nineteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth century, to satisfy the demand of collectors and art lovers of the Italian golden age. It was not only considered a precious object to be put on display as a rich piece of furniture, but it was a collector's item that evoked, as it still does today, all the charm of Benvenuto Cellini's original sculpture.

Author
Follower of Benvenuto Cellini

Title
Perseus with the head of Medusa

Dating
Late nineteenth century, early twentieth century

Measures
108 x 26 cm

Material
Bronze