Skip to main content
Collections Menu

Faun Playing the Flute

Dateearly 16th century
MediumBronze
DimensionsH.: 13 1/4 in. (33.7 cm)
Credit LineHenry Clay Frick Bequest
Accession number1916.2.31
Commentary

Venice was later than Padua to develop a local school of sculptors producing bronzes, and few Venetians attained a comparable reputation. Perhaps the proximity of Padua made such efforts seem redundant. Furthermore, signed or documented works by Venetian bronze sculptors are exceedingly rare much before the middle of the sixteenth century, making attributions difficult.

Attributions to Camelio, for example, are suggested only on the basis of signed reliefs, which offer less than satisfactory support for comparison with three-dimensional statuettes. A number of bronzes ascribed to Camelio, including the Faun Playing the Flute, have also been claimed as the work of an early sixteenth-century Paduan goldsmith, Francesco da Sant'Agata, whose style, however, is perhaps even less clearly defined. Both artists seem to have produced small, gracefully proportioned male nudes derived from antique models and with classicizing subjects. However, similar figures also were made by other early sixteenth-century North Italian sculptors.

The present faun, who has pointed ears and a neatly curled tail, represents a popular model derived from antique precedents and known in several variants. This version has lost its flute except for a fragment remaining in the left hand. Nevertheless, the faun's lithe, dancing body seems to twist and turn to the ghostly sound of pagan pipes.

Source: Art in The Frick Collection: Paintings, Sculpture, Decorative Arts, New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1996.

Collection History

Sold through Durlacher Bros., June 13, 1904, for £600, under an ascription to Sant’Agata, to J. Pierpont Morgan, London and New York.15 Duveen. Frick, 1916.

Source: Sculpture in The Frick Collection: Italian. Volume III. New York: The Frick Collection, 1970.

Not On View
Bronze self-portrait medal of Vittore Gambello nude, with curly hair, in profile to the right
Camelio (Vittore Gambello)
dated 1508
Bronze sculpture of a seated infant faun.  His left arm is stretched out behind him and his rig…
Caspar Gras
early 16th century
Bronze sculpture of a head of a faun.
Style of Massimiliano Soldani-Benzi
ca. 1675–1740
Bronze octagonal relief sculpture of a pietà scene.   Jesus is seen lying to the right of the s…
Alessandro Algardi
ca. 1630
A bronze sculpture of David. He is looking down, his left hand is on his left hip and his left …
Workshop of Severo da Ravenna (Severo Calzetta)
late 15th century to early 16th century
Bronze sculpture of crouching Atlas supporting globe with triangular base
Workshop of Severo da Ravenna (Severo Calzetta)
late 16th century
Bronze candlestick featuring intricate motifs throughout.
Attributed to Gasparo Macri
16th century
Bronze candlestick featuring intricate motifs throughout.
Attributed to Gasparo Macri
16th century
Bronze sculpture of a reclining antelope.
Italian, Nineteenth Century
19th century
Bronze sculpture of a seated child.
Italian, Nineteenth Century
19th century (?)
A bronze triangular lamp with a seated satyr who has his arms behind him.  He is bound to a tre…
Workshop of Severo da Ravenna (Severo Calzetta)
1467–1532
A bronze sculpture of nude Venus.  Her arms are outstretched in front of her and her head is tu…
Netherlandish
17th century (?)
Copyright © 1998-2024 The Frick Collection. All Rights Reserved.
FacebookYoutubeInstagramTwitterGoogle Arts and Culturemenusearch2xX