Oil lamp in the form of a grotesque animal

Andrea Briosco, called Riccio

17th century · Bronze · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Bernard de Montfaucon illustrated an example of such an oil lamp as antique.[1] Many of the type exist but have not been studied, probably because they are not Italian. The sinuous creature somewhat calls to mind the salamander-like shapes that were a staple of French bronziers, but there is none resembling it by Barthélemy Prieur, who might otherwise be a candidate.[2] The creature is also formally reminiscent of the fantastic hybrid grotesques by the Amsterdam bronze master Arent van Bolten (fig. 187a).[3] -JDD Footnotes (For key to shortened references see bibliography in Allen, Italian Renaissance and Baroque Bronzes in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. NY: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2022.) 1. Montfaucon 1719–22, vol. 5, pl. 144, no. 2. 2. Regina Seelig-Teuwen in Bresc-Bautier et al. 2008, pp. 102–47. 3. See Scholten and Verber 2005, pp. 130–33, cats. 40, 41.

Artist

Andrea Briosco, called Riccio

Date

17th century

Medium

Bronze

Culture

Possibly France or the Netherlands

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Gift of Irwin Untermyer, 1964