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Bust of Hadrian   Massimiliano Soldani-Benzi (1656–1740), after antiquity

Bust of Hadrian

Massimiliano Soldani-Benzi (1656–1740)
, after antiquity

1695

this site may contain automatically translated text
Büste des Hadrian

In 1694, Prince Johann Adam Andreas I von Liechtenstein proposed to Massimiliano Soldani-Benzi that he copy the heads of Michelangelo’s four statues of the ‘Times of Day’ on the Medici Tombs in the New Sacristy of the basilica of San Lorenzo, Florence. In his reply of 11 December – arguably rather courageously, given how temperamental patrons could be and how much he had to lose – Soldani-Benzi politely explained that in view of their context the heads were unsuited to such an adaptation. Instead he suggested an alternative – a series of busts of the most notable marbles of Roman emperors, empresses and philosophers, copied from examples in the Medici collections housed in the Uffizi. These, he assured the prince, were ‘cose nobilissime, e da galleria’ (most noble things, [worthy of] a gallery). They certainly make for an extremely impressive ensemble, regardless of the fact that at least some of the identifications have turned out to be erroneous.
The Prince enthusiastically embraced the scheme, and over the years until his death in 1712 no fewer than a dozen busts were sent to Vienna, of which only eleven survive, including the ‘Anima Beata’ (SK 516) and ‘Anima Dannata’ (SK 517) after Bernini. Eight of the remaining nine still retain their original black and white-veined marble socles adorned by identificatory cartouches, the exception being the bust of the young Marcus Aurelius, whose base disappeared after the Second World War. The first two bronzes (SK 548, SK 529) proposed by Soldani were of Empress Faustina the Elder, wife of Emperor Antoninus Pius, and of Empress Faustina the Younger, wife of Marcus Aurelius, both of which he praised for their ‘vera maniera greca’ (true Greek style). Both are based upon identifiable prototypes in the Uffizi, but whereas the latter is still accepted as a likeness of Faustina the Younger from a prototype datable to around 161 CE, the former is believed to represent an otherwise unidentified Roman matron from the time of Faustina the Elder.
These two bronzes look in the same direction, and Soldani’s next move was to pair them off with busts believed to represent Cicero and Seneca, both likewise based upon ancient marbles in the Uffizi. In this instance, it is the former that is still generally thought to represent Cicero (SK 554), while the model for the latter (SK 560) is agreed to be a Hellenistic piece, dating from the second century BCE and possibly portraying the poet Hesiod. Be that as it may, it is unquestionably the most stunning work of art in the group, not least by virtue of the brilliantly worked hair and beard.
There then followed a further four busts of emperors, namely, Augustus (SK 513), Agrippa (SK 504), who was not strictly speaking an emperor, Hadrian (SK 571) and Vitellius (SK 563). The first three are all based upon antique busts in the Uffizi, and it is only the identification of the first which is sometimes doubted. There is also a pseudo-antique bust said to represent Vitellius in the Uffizi, but in this instance Soldani’s model seems to have been the far more celebrated supposed bust of Vitellius in the Museo Archeologico in Venice, which was left to the republic by Cardinal Domenico Grimani in 1523 and was already being avidly copied in the sixteenth century, above all by Tintoretto, who drew upon it for a whole variety of angles, and donated its features to one of the crowd in his ‘Christ before Pilate’ in the Scuola di San Rocco.
Turning finally to the bust of the young Marcus Aurelius (SK 523), while it is undeniable that it differs in a variety of ways from the other eight, which are referred to as a group in a letter written by Soldani to the prince, it was undoubtedly intended to relate harmoniously to the others. It too is based upon an ancient marble in the Uffizi.
Understandably, Soldani-Benzi expressed particular pride in the exceptional care he had taken over both their casting and chasing. He also remarked upon the fact that he had spared neither time nor expense in order to make them as like the originals as possible, and yet to a modern eye they are the very opposite of slavishly faithful to their prototypes: on the contrary, blatantly imbued, and enchantingly so, with Soldani-Benzi’s very personal response to his models.

Material/technique
bronze, reddish-golden lacquer patina
Measurements
53 × 39 × 32 cm, 67.5 cm high incl. plinth
Acquisition
acquired in 1695 by Prince Johann Adam Andreas I von Liechtenstein
Artists/makers/authors
Massimiliano Soldani-Benzi, after antiquity
Detailed information
Inventory number
SK 571
Provenance
acquired in 1695 by Prince Johann Adam Andreas I von Liechtenstein
Place of origin
Florence
Iconography
Hadrian
Literature
Sandro Bellesi, Il primato nella lavorazione del bronzo a Firenze nel Seicento e Settecento: protagonisti, opere e orientamenti stilistici, in: Ausst.-Kat.Plasmato dal fuoco. La scultura in bronzo nella Firenze degli ultimi Medici, Eike D. Schmidt, Sandro Bellesi, Riccardo Gennaioli (Hg.), Galleria degli Uffizi. Palazzo Pitti - Tesoro dei Granduchi, Firenze 18.9.2019–12.1.2020, erschienen Livorno 2019, S. 21–63, S. 55, S. 56, Abb. 41

Vincenzio Fanti, Descrizzione completa di tutto ciò che ritrovasi nella galleria di pittura e scultura di Sua Altezza Giuseppe Wenceslao del S.R.I. Principe Regnante della casa di Lichtenstein, Wien 1767, S. 84, Kat. 90

Johann Dallinger von Dalling, Description des Tableaux, et des Piéces de Sculpture, que renferme la Gallerie de son Altesse François Joseph Chef et Prince Regnant de la Maison de Liechtenstein, Vienne 1780, S. 266, Kat. 113

Erika Tietze-Conrat, Die Bronzen der fürstlich Liechtensteinschen Kunstkammer, in: Jahrbuch des Kunsthistorischen Institutes der K.K. Zentral-Kommission für Denkmalpflege, Bd. XI/1917, S. 16–108, S. 59 u. 89, Nr. 90, Abb. 41

Olga Raggio, Ausst.-Kat. Liechtenstein. The Princely Collections, New York 1985, S. 90-94, Kat. 62

Ausst.-Kat. Die Bronzen der Fürstlichen Sammlung Liechtenstein, Herbert Beck (Hg.), Liebighaus – Museum Alter Plastik in der Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Frankfurt 26.11.1986–15.2.1987, erschienen Frankfurt am Main 1986, S. 219, Nr. 43, Abb. S. 221 (Olga Raggio)

Volker Krahn, Ausst.-Kat. Fünf Jahrhunderte italienische Kunst aus den Sammlungen des Fürsten von Liechtenstein, Vaduz 1994, S. 130-133 u. 161, Kat. 59

Johann Kräftner, Andrea Stockhammer, Liechtenstein Museum Wien. Le Collezioni, München 2004, S. 298, Abb. S. 285, Kat. VII.18

Johann Kräftner, Andrea Stockhammer, Liechtenstein Museum Vienna. The Collections, Johann Kräftner (Hg.), München–Berlin–London–New York 2004, S. 298, Abb. S. 285, Kat. VII.18

Johann Kräftner, Andrea Stockhammer, Liechtenstein Museum Wien. Die Sammlungen, Johann Kräftner (Hg.), München–Berlin–London–New York 2004, S. 298, Abb. S. 285, Kat. VII.18

Ausst.-Kat. Barocker Luxus Porzellan. Die Manufaktur Du Paquier in Wien und Carlo Ginori in Florenz, Johann Kräftner (Hg.), Liechtenstein Museum, Wien 10.11.2005–29.1.2006, erschienen München–Berlin–London–New York 2005, S. 408, Kat. 263

Ausst.-Kat. Les Bronzes du Prince de Liechtenstein. Chefs-d'oeuvre de la Renaissance et du Baroque, Alexis Kugel (Hg.), Galerie J. Kugel, Paris 10.9.2008–7.11.2008, erschienen Paris 2008, S. 105, Abb. S. 62, Farbtafel 27, Kat. 27

Carina A. E. Weißmann, Die Bronzen des Massimiliano Soldani Benzi (1656–1740). Repräsentationsstrategien des europäischen Adels um 1700 (Sammler, Sammlungen, Sammlungskulturen in Wien und Mitteleuropa/Forschungen aus dem Vienna Center for the History of Collecting), Sebastian Schütze (Hg.), Bd. 3, Berlin–Boston 2022, S. 360–363, Kat.-Nr. 8.3

Ausst.-Kat. Gegossen für die Ewigkeit. Die Bronzen der Fürsten von Liechtenstein. Eine Ausstellung in der Reihe MÄRZ IM PALAIS im Gartenpalais Liechtenstein, Alexandra Hanzl, Johann Kräftner, Katharina Leithner, Arthur Stögmann, Johann Kräftner (Hg.), Gartenpalais Liechtenstein, Wien 1.–31.3.2023, erschienen Wien 2023, S. 226–227, Kat.-Nr. 99

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