AFTER GIAMBOLOGNA, LATE 19TH CENTURY

Giambologna executed the original bronze of the court dwarf in circa 1580 and this is currently in the Muse du Louvre collection. It probably formed the centrepiece of a table fountain, the hollow casting piped to the spigot and cup, emitting water or wine. Approximately two years later Giambologna repeated the theme for Duke Francesco, for a fountain in the hanging garden on the roof terrace of the Loggia dei Lanzi. In this example Morgante is shown fishing astride a dragon; Florence, Museo Nazionale dei Bargello.

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
Charles Avery, Giambologna, Phaidon/Christie's, Oxford 1987, page 209, figs. 233 & 234.