id: 125337 accession number: 1947.29 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1947.29 updated: 2023-08-26 11:09:35.360000 Satyress, c. 1525–1528. Giovanni Maria Mosca (Italian, 1495/99–1574). Bronze; overall: 16.5 x 11.5 cm (6 1/2 x 4 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Severance A. Millikin 1947.29 title: Satyress title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1525–1528 creation date earliest: 1525 creation date latest: 1528 current location: 117A Italian Renaissance creditline: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Severance A. Millikin copyright: --- culture: Italy, 16th century technique: bronze department: European Painting and Sculpture collection: Sculpture type: Sculpture find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Giovanni Maria Mosca (Italian, 1495/99–1574) - artist --- measurements: Overall: 16.5 x 11.5 cm (6 1/2 x 4 1/2 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: 35th Anniversary Exhibition opening date: 1951-06-20T04:00:00 35th Anniversary Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 20-September 30, 1951). title: Renaissance Bronzes from Ohio Collections opening date: 1975-09-24T04:00:00 Renaissance Bronzes from Ohio Collections. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 24-November 16, 1975). title: Nature and Antiquity in the Italian Renaissance opening date: 1985-12-04T05:00:00 Nature and Antiquity in the Italian Renaissance. Städtische Galerie Liebieghaus, Frankfurt am Main, Germany (organizer) (December 4, 1985-March 2, 1986). title: The Persistence of Classicism in Sculpture opening date: 1988-11-16T05:00:00 The Persistence of Classicism in Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 16, 1988-January 15, 1989). title: Conserving the Past for the Future opening date: 2001-03-04T00:00:00 Conserving the Past for the Future. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 4-May 6, 2001). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, (fall, 1943-1944): "15th and 16th c. Sculpture in Bronze and Wood, lent by Dr. Ernst Wittman," (no cat.)
"Survey of Italian Art," Seattle Art Museum, November 8 to December 8, 1957.
Dec 4, 1985-March 2, 1986: "Nature and Antiquity in the Italian Renaissance," Stadtische Galerie-Liebieghaus, Frankfurt, West Germany, cat. no. 158, repr., pp. 456-58 --- PROVENANCE Dona delle Rose (Venice, Italy), sold to Ernö Wittman, ca. 1932 date: footnotes: citations: Ernö Wittmann (Budapest, Hungary), died 1963, sold through R. Stora & Co. (New York, New York) to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1947. date: footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: In antiquity, satyrs were lustful woodland deities who delighted in wine and revelry. Renaissance artists adopted them as symbols of vice and carnal love; the female satyr, or satyress, on this bronze plaquette, recently reattributed from Riccio to Mosca, was probably derived from a copper engraving of a Roman sarcophagus by Marcantonio Raimondi (c. 1470/82-1527/34). Both the sarcophagus and subsequent engraving depicted a bacchanalia, or scene of orgiastic carousal; the peculiar objects surrounding the satyress have been added by the artist, possibly in an effort to remove the figure from her lewd original composition and give a more refined meaning. The satyress rests her right hoof upon a plumed helmet. A coiled shape, possibly a snake, winds out of the helmet. To her left, a laurel tree stands with only half of its branches in bloom. Two severed animal legs are tied around its trunk and an illegible plaque hangs from one of its branches. A lyre, a pan pipe, an animal jawbone and a bow are gathered at the base of the tree. The highly allegorical nature of the work uses obscure symbols, rather than a distinct narrative, to convey meaning and could possibly be read as an allegory of physical pleasure overcoming virtue. wall description: The use of complex symbols interested Renaissance scholars, artists, and humanists. The unusual objects surrounding the satyress may be an allegory of vice triumphing over virtue. The lyre and pipes at the base of the laurel tree represent the spirit and the emotions, while the jawbone and bow are weapons of violence and love. The helmet and snake (under the satyress’s hooves) were Renaissance symbols of wisdom. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 233 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1958/page/n51 The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. page number: Reproduced: p. 87 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1966/page/n111 The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. page number: Reproduced: p. 87 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1969/page/n111 Wixom, William D. Renaissance Bronzes from Ohio Collections. 1975. page number: cat. no. 91, repr. url: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. page number: Reproduced: p. 101 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n121 Schulz, Anne Markham. The History of Venetian Renaissance Sculpture, Ca. 1400-1530. London: Harvey Miller Publishers, 2017. page number: Mentioned: p. 334 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1947.29/1947.29_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1947.29/1947.29_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1947.29/1947.29_full.tif