Giovanni da Bologna
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Giovanni da Bologna (1529-1608), also known as Giambologna, was a Flemish-Italian sculptor who became the most important sculptor in Italy between Michelangelo and Bernini. Born Jean Boulogne in Douai (now France), he traveled to Italy to study classical sculpture and never left, spending his career in Florence under Medici patronage.
His Rape of the Sabine Women (1583) in the Loggia dei Lanzi was the first large-scale sculpture designed to be viewed from all angles, a breakthrough in Mannerist art. His bronze Mercury, balanced on one foot atop a puff of wind, became one of the most reproduced sculptures in Western art. Small bronzes from his workshop were collected across Europe.
Sculptures by Giovanni da Bologna
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About Giovanni da Bologna
The Rape of the Sabine Women (1583) in Florence's Loggia dei Lanzi is his most celebrated work. Carved from a single block of marble, its three spiraling figures were revolutionary for being designed to be viewed from every angle.
Florence holds most of his major works: the Loggia dei Lanzi, Bargello Museum, and Boboli Gardens. His bronze Mercury is at the Bargello. Small bronzes appear in museums across Europe.
Giambologna worked during late Mannerism, the style between the High Renaissance and the Baroque. His elongated figures, spiraling compositions (figura serpentinata), and technical brilliance defined the transition between these periods.
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