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Lion Attacking a Horse  

Lion Attacking a Horse

Giovanni Francesco Susini (1585–1653)


after Giambologna (1529–1608)

c. 1630/40

this site may contain automatically translated text
Löwe greift ein Pferd an

The pair of bronzes ‘Lion Attacking a Horse’ (SK 547) and ‘Leopard Killing a Bull’ (SK 544) are uncontroversially credited to Giovanni Francesco Susini, not least on account of the design of their bases and their casting technique. However, they ultimately depend upon the passionate interest in animal sculpture possessed by Giambologna, who was responsible for a pair of groups of a lion attacking a horse – as here – and a lion attacking a bull. They are known in various versions, some signed by Antonio Susini, and were certainly in existence by 1611, when examples were listed in the collection of Markus Zeh. The ‘Lion Attacking a Horse’ was based upon a fragmentary classical marble group (now in the garden of the Palazzo dei Conservatori) that Giambologna must have known from his years in Rome in the 1550s. The present completion of the original dates from its restoration by the Milanese sculptor Ruggiero Bescapé in 1594 and shows the head of the horse slumped forward in slightly dull surrender; it could hardly be more different from Giambologna’s explosive, almost melodramatic solution. There also exist bronzes from Giambologna’s circle which reproduce this tamer composition.
As noted above, the ‘Lion Attacking a Horse’ is customarily accompanied by a ‘Lion and Bull’, also – albeit much more loosely – based upon classical prototypes. By contrast, the pendant here, which shows the bull being attacked by a leopard clearly recognizable as such by virtue of its spotted coat, is incomparably rarer. In addition to the change of animal, it also represents a less dramatic and savage encounter, which has led some commentators to speculate that it may have been devised as a counterpart to the Bescapé-inspired ‘Lion and Horse’. Be that as it may, no such early pair of bronzes is known, whereas the present combination was demonstrably in existence by 1658, when these pieces are listed together in the Liechtenstein Princely Collections. Moreover, Filippo Baldinucci, writing in the 1680s, referred to Giambologna’s having made models for bronzes of a horse killed by a lion and a bull killed by a tiger, and may have had precisely the present pairing in mind.

Material/technique
bronze with original lacquer patina
Measurements
23.8 × 31.0 × 23.8 cm
Acquisition
presumably acquired in 1658 by Prince Karl Eusebius I von Liechtenstein
Artists/makers/authors
Giovanni Francesco Susini
after Giambologna
Detailed information
Inventory number
SK 547
Provenance
first mentioned in the Guardaroba inventory of Prince Karl Eusebius I von Liechtenstein, dated 1658, presumably acquired in 1658 by Prince Karl Eusebius von Liechtenstein
Place of origin
Florence
Iconography
Battle scene ,  Lion ,  Horse
Literature
Unbekannter Autor, Inventarium der Quardaroba so min endts benenten von Johann Reicharten den 14. Octobris Aa 1658 in Feldtsperg und Wien übergeben und eingehändigt worden 1658

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. 68, Kat. 43

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. 114

Victor Fleischer, Fürst Karl Eusebius von Liechtenstein als Bauherr und Kunstsammler (1611–1684), Wien 1910, S. 70

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. 74, 84-85, Abb. 65

Leo Planiscig, Die Bronzeplastiken, Kat. Kunsthistorisches Museum in Wien, Wien 1924, S. 204, Kat. 330

H.R. Weihrauch, Die Bildwerke in Bronze und in anderen Metallen. Bayrisches Nationalmuseum München, Katalog XIII, München 1956, S. 96f., Kat. 121

H. Landais, Les bronzes italiens de la Renaissance, Paris 1958, S. 68

Oskar Sandner, Ausst.-Kat. Meisterwerke der Plastik aus Privatsammlungen im Bodenseegebiet, Bregenz 1967, S. 86-87, Kat. 157

Hans R. Weihrauch, Europäische Bronzestatuetten 15.-18. Jahrhundert, Braunschweig 1967, S. 221, Abb. 264, 507, 564a

Manfred Leithe-Jasper, Ausst.-Kat. Giambologna 1529-1608. Ein Wendepunkt der europäischen Plastik, Wien 1978, S. 255-256, Kat. 172a

Ausst.-Kat. Liechtenstein. The Princely Collections, Bradford D. Kelleher (Hg.), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 26.10.1985–1.5.1986, erschienen New York 1985, S. 71-72, Kat. 40

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. 177-179, Kat. 17 (James David Draper)

Ausst.-Kat. Sammlungen des Fürsten von Liechtenstein, Uwe Wieczorek, Paul Reiles, Jean Luc Koltz (Hg.), Museée national d'histoire et d'art Luxembourg, Luxemburg 8.7.1995–3.9.1995, erschienen Luxemburg 1995, S. 45–46, Kat.-Nr. 15

Ausst.-Kat. Collections du Prince de Liechtenstein, Uwe Wieczorek, Paul Reiles, Jean Luc Koltz (Hg.), Musée national d’histoire et d’art de Luxembourg, Luxemburg 8.7.1995–3.9.1995, erschienen Luxemburg 1995, S. 48, Nr. 15, Textband S. 45-46, Kat. 15

Ausst.-Kat. Princely Taste. Treasures from Great Private Collections, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem März–Juni 1995, erschienen Jerusalem 1995, S. 33

Johann Kräftner, Die Schätze der Liechtenstein. Paläste, Gemälde, Skulpturen, Wien 2013, Abb. S. 297

Johann Kräftner, The Treasures of the Liechtensteins. Palaces, Paintings, Sculptures, Vienna 2013

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. 148–149, Kat.-Nr. 59

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