Dancing Amorini with Bacchic symbols

Giovanni Antonio Santarelli

late 18th–early 19th century · Onyx and gold · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

The mild gray ground is a foil for delicate movement and ornament. Giovanni Santarelli’s original wax-on-slate model (Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence) is oval. He expanded the compositional field onto a wider hexagon, from the outset sensing its suitability for a ring.

Artist

Giovanni Antonio Santarelli

Date

late 18th–early 19th century

Medium

Onyx and gold

Culture

Italian, Florence

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

The Milton Weil Collection, 1940