Pluto and Cerberus

Giovanni Battista di Jacopo

early 17th century · Bronze · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

The god of the underworld is posed at the mouth of hell with his fierce three-headed companion, Cerberus, who exhibits the features of a spaniel, a lion, and a wolf. Pluto has lost the spear on which he leaned. Rosso Fiorentino, a painter and a printmaker, was prominent among the Italian artists lured to France by François I. His drawing for Pluto was engraved several times. This cast is probably the one that belonged to the great seventeenth-century sculptor and collector François Girardon.

Artist

Giovanni Battista di Jacopo

Date

early 17th century

Medium

Bronze

Culture

French

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Gift of Mrs. Howard J. Sachs and Mr. Peter G. Sachs, in memory of Miss Edith L. Sachs, 1978