Meleager
Giovanni Francesco Susini (1585–1653)
, after antiquity
3rd quarter of the 17th century
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The model for the present bronze group is a statue in the Vatican commonly known as the 'Pighini Meleager'. Since Meleager triumphed in the hunt for the Calydonian boar, such an identification seems entirely plausible. Conversely, the alternative identification of the youth as Adonis, who was killed by a wild boar out hunting, makes less sense.
The marble original is first recorded in 1546 in the palace of the papal doctor, Francesco Fusconi from Norcia, in Rome, who ‘kept it always covered as if it was a beautiful gem or revered relic’, but must actually have been in circulation a couple of decades or so earlier, since it appears to have inspired a drawing (Galleria Nazionale, Parma) by Parmigianino, who was in Rome from 1524 to 1527. It was to prove one of the most admired of all classical statues: moreover, around the time of the execution of this bronze, its fame can only have been enhanced by the fact that it was on the market. In 1636, the Earl of Arundel reportedly offered huge sums for it, and in 1664 Cardinal Chigi was said to be attempting to purchase it for Louis XIV, but perhaps secretly for himself. It was not until 1770, however, that it was acquired by Pope Clement XIV, and by 1792 it was on display in the Museo Pio-Clementino.
No other versions of this cast, which has been persuasively attributed to Gianfrancesco Susini on stylistic and technical grounds, is known to exist. It is a remarkably faithful reduction of its model, but predictably a few minor modifications were effected. The most obvious were the narrowing of the gap between the figure and the treestump and the omission of the marble strut connecting them, as well as the restoration of the missing left hand, which legend had it Michelangelo had been either unwilling or unable to replace.
- Material/technique
- Bronze, golden-brown lacquer patina
- Measurements
- 41.5 × 27.0 × 16.0 cm without base
- Acquisition
- presumably acquired in 1658 by Prince Karl Eusebius I von Liechtenstein
- Artists/makers/authors
- Giovanni Francesco Susini, after antiquity
- Inventory number
- SK 595
- Provenance
- presumably acquired in 1658 by Prince Karl Eusebius I von Liechtenstein
- Iconography
- Meleager
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. 86, Kat. 110
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. 265, Kat. 98
Victor Fleischer, Fürst Karl Eusebius von Liechtenstein als Bauherr und Kunstsammler (1611–1684), Wien 1910, S. 69
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. 92-93, Nr. 110, Abb. 72
Adolf Kronfeld, Führer durch die Fürstlich Liechtensteinsche Gemäldegalerie in Wien, 3. Aufl., Wien 1931, S. XXIV
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Ausst.-Kat. Die Jagd. Mythos und Wirklichkeit, Kunstmuseum, Vaduz 19.1.2007–28.10.2007, erschienen Vaduz 2007, S. 56, Abb. S. 17, Kat. 7
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. 106–107, Kat.-Nr. 37
