Tireuse d'épine

D'APRÈS GIAMBOLOGNA, FIN DU XVIe OU DÉBUT DU XVIIe SIÈCLE
Tireuse d'épine
bronze, le disque en bronze et le socle en porphyre postérieurs
H. bronze 12,5 cm (4⁷⁄₈ in.)
H. totale avec la base en porphyre 19,1 cm (7¹⁄₂ in.)

Bibliographie comparative :
W. von Bode, The Art Collection of Mr. Alfred Beit at his residence, 26 Park Lane, Londres, 1904, p. 62.
W. von Bode, Königliche Museen zu Berlin - Die Italienische Bronzen, Berlin, 1904, p. 9, no. 281 et pl.
W. von Bode, Catalogue of the Collection of Pictures and Bronzes in the Possession of Mr. Otto Beit, Londres, 1913, p. 107, no. 213.
C. Avery et A. Radcliffe, Giambologna 1529-1608 - Sculptor to the Medici, cat. expo., Londres, 1978, p. 66, no. 8.
P. Malgouyres, « À l'aube du petit bronze maniériste : la Tireuse d'épine de Ponce Jacquio (vers 1530 ? - 1570) », in La Revue des musées de France. Revue du Louvre, 3, 2021, p. 11-13.

A BRONZE FIGURE OF A WOMAN REMOVING A THORN FROM HER FOOT, AFTER GIAMBOLOGNA, LATE 16TH OR EARLY 17TH CENTURY

The position of our Woman removing a thorn from her foot is derived from a statuette attributed to Giambologna by Wilhelm von Bode. There are several variations on this figure. In the model at the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Dijon (described as Giambologna's studio) or the one sold at Christie's (Christie's, London, 7 December 2006, lot 194), the figure is cast with a tripod stool, while in another composition (Christie's, London, 7 December 2006, lot 196), she leans on a pillar that rises to her back. Another variation shows the addition of a Cupid. Accompanied by the Cupid, our Woman or Bather is transformed into a Venus. Models are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (cast attributed to Susini, inv. no. 32.100.183), the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (as attributed to a follower of Giambologna), and the Victoria and Albert Museum (inv. no. A.150&:2-1910, a less precise cast). However, all these variants of the Bather share the detail of a very pronounced fold separating the arm from her proper right breast.
In France, this subject was treated in particular by Ponce Jacquiot (c. 1515-1571), and two figures of the Tireuses d'épine are now at the Musée du Louvre, one in bronze and the other in terracotta (Musée du Louvre, inv. no. RFML.OA.2020.15.1 and inv. no. RF 3455).