ganymedesrocks: didoofcarthage: Satyr (and detail) by Pier Jacopo Alari Bonacolsi (called Antic
ganymedesrocks: didoofcarthage: Satyr (and detail) by Pier Jacopo Alari Bonacolsi (called Antico) Italian (from Mantua), 16th century bronze with remains of dark brown lacquer Metropolitan Museum of Art Pier Jacopo Alari Bonacolsi (about 1455 - 1528), born in Mantua before 1460, Pier Jacopo Alari-Bonacolsi, called Antico, became well known, from early as a sculptor. Like many fifteenth-century sculptors, he trained as a goldsmith; his use of silver for contrast in his later bronzes reflects this background. For his entire career, Antico worked in the thriving artistic court of Renaissance Mantua, which clearly appreciated his antique-style sculptures. As was typical for court artists, Antico lived at Gianfrancesco’s palace at Bozzolo beginning in the 1480s. There he also made bronze reductions of Roman antiquities for Gianfrancesco’s young brother, Bishop Ludovico Gonzaga. In the early 1500s Antico began working for Isabella d'Este, wife of Francesco II Gonzaga. After 1506, Antico replaced Andrea Mantegna as Isabella’s artistic advisor in her purchases of antiquities. Later in his life, Antico turned to the draughtsmanship required for his sculptural talents and applied them towards architecture. -- source link