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Andrea Riccio

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The Triumph of Humanist Virtue c. 1516–21 Bronze Musée du Louvre, Paris (Formerly part of the tomb monument of Girolamo and Marcantonio Della Torre in San Fermo Maggiore, Verona.) Cat. No. 30

This relief celebrates the virtue, “VIRTUTIS,” of intellectual pursuits that triumphs over death and ensures the scholar’s eternal glory. At center, Fame sounds her trumpet (now lost) and spreads her wings over the globe. At left, winged Pegasus paws the earth, creating the Hippocrene spring, the mythological font of humanist inspiration. At right, skeletal Death is bound to a tree, jaw slack in defeat, his scythe beyond his grasp. Riccio’s inventive characterization of the figures endows an emblematic image with narrative drama. Such a creative approach to subject is characteristic of Riccio’s work. This relief completed a series of eight bronze panels that decorated the tomb of two scholars, Girolamo Della Torre and his son Marcantonio.

Entombment 1516–20s Bronze National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Samuel H. Kress Collection Cat. No. 27

Andrea Riccio daringly re-creates Christ’s Entombment as a thiasos, a crowded, pagan religious procession. At left, the Virgin collapses to her knees as she gazes at her dead son. Beside her, Saint John gestures toward the unblemished body of Christ, borne by two men. Another man carries a vase, inscribed AERDNA (Riccio’s first name in reverse), and leads the procession to the cave tomb. Modeled in exceptionally high relief, Riccio’s figures engage each other across actual space. Their interactions and gestures, like those of the wailing women, seemingly evolve as one moves around the relief. This magnificent work may culminate Riccio’s development of religious narrative. His prominent signature has led some to suggest he intended it for his own tomb.

Entombment modeled after 1516 Bronze Daniel Katz, Ltd., London Cat. No. 28

This, the only plaquette by Riccio in the exhibition, is his largest. It is the size of the small paintings used for private devotion in intimate domestic settings. At left, Mary Magdalene covers her face in mourning as Christ’s heroic body is lowered into the sarcophagus. At right, the kneeling Virgin collapses in grief. Background figures cry out and raise their arms in anguish over Christ’s sacrifice. Riccio emulates the range of emotional expression and pose in Mantegna’s and Donatello’s Entombments, works celebrated in his city of Padua as icons of artistry and religious profundity.

Saint Martin and the Beggar 1513–20 Bronze Galleria Giorgio Franchetti alla Ca’ d’Oro, Venice Cat. No. 9

This magnificent relief originally was an altarpiece in the Venetian church of Santa Maria dei Servi. It shows Martin dividing his cloak to clothe a naked beggar — a saintly act he performed while still a Roman cavalry officer. Riccio expresses Christian truths using the language of ancient art. Martin’s classically idealized beauty is a metaphor for his spiritual grace. The beggar, representing Christ, has the heroic proportions of an ancient god. Riccio renders the figures in astonishingly high relief increasing the scene’s emotional and spiritual drama. Noble saint and humble supplicant are united by the gaze they share across actual space. Martin’s cloak billows like a sail, as if it might encompass all within range of the saint’s pious act.

Follower of Riccio (?) Penitent Saint Jerome inscribed 1560 Bronze Muzeum Narodowe, Czartoryski Collection, Krakow Cat. No. 4

Riccio’s relationship to this relief is uncertain. The kneeling saint strongly resembles Riccio’s Saint Jerome statuette. The rocky forest landscape is like that of the Entombment relief. Yet the date 1560 was cast into the open book nearly thirty years after Riccio’s death. Could this cast preserve a lost Riccio model? Compared to Riccio’s Saint Jerome statuette, the anatomy is more schematic, and the facial features and beard are less crisply rendered. These differences suggest the hand of a later artist. In the relief the saint’s drapery modestly covers his loins, a difference consonant with conservative mid-century religious views. Perhaps this relief was both designed and cast by a Riccio pupil.
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