Mythological painting Bronze — Auction price
Massimiliano Soldani or Massimiliano Soldani Benzi was an Italian baroque sculptor and medallist, mainly active in Florence. Soldani developed into one of the finest bronze casters of his time in Europe. Though first specialising as a medallist, Soldani also produced bronze reliefs, bronze vases and free-standing figures and busts.
Pierre Le Gros was a French sculptor of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. He is known as a representative of the Baroque style and a master of the religious genre. His best sculptures were created on the orders of the Catholic Church.
Pierre Le Gros had a close "genetic" connection with art on both his father's and mother's side. His father, a court sculptor of King Louis XIV, had the same name (which is why Pierre Le Gros is often referred to as "the Younger"). His two maternal uncles, Gaspard and Balthazard Marsy, and his half-brother Pierre Lepautre were sculptors.
Pierre Le Gros was rejected in his homeland, but managed to achieve great professional success in Italy, where today you can see most of his work.
Jean-Léon Gérôme was a prominent 19th-century French painter, a representative of the academic school of painting. His paintings are notable for their impeccable composition and exquisite colour palette.
Jean-Léon Gérôme did not accept the work of the Impressionists, whom he considered to be the ignominy of French art. This has earned him a controversial reputation as a fierce supporter of academism and a persecutor of new movements.
Emile Antoine Bourdelle was an influential and prolific French sculptor and teacher. He was a student of Auguste Rodin, a teacher of Giacometti and Henri Matisse, and an important figure in the Art Deco movement and the transition from the Beaux-Arts style to modern sculpture.
His studio became the Musée Bourdelle, an art museum dedicated to his work.
Giovanni Battista (Giambattista) Foggini was an Italian sculptor active in Florence, renowned mainly for small bronze statuary.
Foggini's pupils included Fernando Fuga, his nephew Filippo della Valle, Balthasar Permoser, Giovacchino Fortini and Giovanni Baratta. Massimiliano Soldani Benzi was a contemporary student with Foggini in Rome and also active in small bronze sculpture.
