Images of Mercury, c. 1564-80, by Giovanni Bologna, in the Bargello, Florence, Italy. Digital Imaging Project: Art historical images of European and North American architecture and sculpture from classical Greek to Post-modern. Scanned from slides taken on site by Mary Ann Sullivan, Bluffton College.

The Bargello, Florence Italy

Mercury
Giovanni Bologna (or Giambologna or Jean Boulogne)
bronze statuette
c. 1564-80

Click here to go to Donatello's David
Click here to go to Michelangelo's Bacchus
Click here to go to Cellini's Cosimo I.

Side view

Born in Flanders as Jean Boulogne, Giovanni Bologna was a master of small bronzes. Note the coiled serpents on the caduceus, a tour de force of bronze casting. Like many mannerist artists, he was typically uninterested in subject matter or content. The style is all-important.

Another view
His sculptures are meant to be seen from various viewing angles. He designs spiral compositions with beautiful silhouettes and flowing curves.

The wind supporting Mercury
A kind of Mannerist "joke," Mercury's flight is supported by the wind. Giovanni Bologna also did the largest of Renaissance sculptures, Apennine--a huge figure about thirty feet tall in stones and brick with three stories of rooms inside the figure.

See also Giovanni Bologna's Rape of the Sabine Women and his Neptune Fountain.

Click here to return to index of art historical sites.

Click here to return to index of artists and architects.

Click here to return to chronological index.

© 1999 Mary Ann Sullivan. I have photographed (on site), scanned, and manipulated all the images on these pages. Please feel free to use them for personal or educational purposes. They are not available for commercial purposes.

Page created by Mary Ann Sullivan


	Side view Born in Flanders as Jean Boulogne, Giovanni Bologna was a master of small bronzes. Note the coiled serpents on the caduceus, a tour de force of bronze casting. Like many mannerist artists, he was typically uninterested in subject matter or content. The style is all-important.

	Another view His sculptures are meant to be seen from various viewing angles. He designs spiral compositions with beautiful silhouettes and flowing curves.

	The wind supporting Mercury A kind of Mannerist "joke," Mercury's flight is supported by the wind. Giovanni Bologna also did the largest of Renaissance sculptures, Apennine--a huge figure about thirty feet tall in stones and brick with three stories of rooms inside the figure.