Resumen de "Ercole e il centauro" ed altre "Fatiche": una proposta per Giovanni Bandini scultore in argento
An unusual silver statuette of "Hercules and the Centaur" (private collection) is here traced back to a silver series of the Labours of Hercules including a "Hercules and the Hydra" (San Francsico, Museum of Fine Arts) and a "Hercules with a Club" (unknown location). On stylistic grounds, the paper seeks to assign "Hercules and the Centaur" and two other statuettes to the Florentine sculptor Giovanni Bandini, or Giovanni dell'Opera, who is known for his prolific -yet still unexplored- work as a goldsmith. The three silver pieces, which may be dated to the 1580s-1590s, reflect strong influences from both ancient sculpture and 15th-century Florentine figurative culture. Ultimately, they would appear to be the work of a sculptor indebted to the language of Michelangelo and Bandinelli, in marked contrast to the then prevalent taste inspired by Giambologna.
