Meleager

A major formative influence for North Italian Classicism in sculpture came through painting. Andrea Mantegna’s cool plastic style largely reflects current trends in North Italian Humanist thought, and played an important role in forming the style of sculptors, in particular Il Antico. In the early Cinquecento Il Antico took over and interpreted classical models (hence his name), and the intricate surface working and gilding he lavished on such bronzes as his Meleager reflects the taste of the highly sophisticated Mantuan court for which they were created. But in contrast to his contemporary, Riccio, Antico always remained spiritually a Quattrocento artist.

Antico made this statuette for Isabella d’Este, who was a great patron of the arts. This is, however, the only known version of the Meleager. The figure’s hair, moustache, beard, teeth, tunic and sandals are inlaid with silver. This rich decorative treatment is characteristic of Antico’s work and reflects the taste of his Gonzaga patrons. It contrasts with the rougher but more vibrant handling of bronzes produced at the time in the humanist circle at Padua.

The companion figure of a boar to Meleager is lost, but the statuette illustrates well the type created for Isabella d’Este.