Wine Cooler (16th Century) by Workshop of Flamino FontanaThe Wallace Collection
Wine Cooler
This 1574 wine cooler, crafted in Urbino, Italy, blends Classical Antiquity with Renaissance design. The central battle scene and grotesque ornamentation pay homage to ancient Roman art.
Urbino was a hub for maiolica production. This wine cooler, crafted from earthenware, is a prime example. It was covered in a white tin glaze, hand-painted, and fired twice, creating a beautiful and functional piece.
Under the bowl two monstrous sculptural satyrs appear to push and heave, their muscles ripple and their bodies are taught from the effort it takes for them to support the bowl's tremendous weight.
The Borghese Dancers (17th Century) by Henri Perlan (Cast) From a model by Francois AnguierThe Wallace Collection
Borghese Dancers
This bronze relief, originally a Roman marble sculpture, depicts five women engaged in a lively dance. It's a copy of a piece that was once a treasured part of the Borghese collection in Rome.
The figures, possibly Horae or attendants for goddesses, seem to guard the wine cooler. They add a sense of mystique and connection to classical mythology.
In 1640 orders were given by King Louis XIII of France, for casts to be made in Rome of ‘the most excellent examples of antiquity’, for decoration of the royal palaces, including the Grande Galerie of the Louvre Palace.
The sensuous neoclassical figures may be compared to those of Nicolas Poussin in his celebrated Dance to the Music of Time. Poussin was closely involved with the project to cast the reliefs and his spirit, if not his hand, can certainly be felt in these great bronze sculptures.
A Dance to the Music of Time (17th Century) by Nicholas PoussinThe Wallace Collection
A Dance to the Music of Time
Poussin's 'Dance to the Music of Time' draws inspiration from Antiquity, featuring classical clothing, weapons, and a setting that reflects his time spent studying the masters of Rome.
This painting was created for a Roman patron, Giulio Rospigliosi, later Pope Clement IX. A circle of figures who symbolise the Seasons dance to the music played by Father Time on his lyre. Autumn, usually represented by a woman, is here represented as Bacchus, the god of wine.
Two putti, one blowing bubbles and the other holding an hourglass, allude to the transience of human life.
The double-headed herm, depicting the youthful and mature Bacchus, points its old head towards the dance, while its young head looks out of the composition to the future.
A Dance to the Music of Time (17th Century) by Nicholas PoussinThe Wallace Collection
In the sky, the sun god Apollo rides across the morning sky in his chariot, preceded by Aurora (dawn) and followed by the Hours.
The dancing figures in this piece represent the continuous cycle of life, from poverty to wealth and back again. The composition's exact meaning is unknown, but it evokes the ephemeral nature of human existence.
Dish (Women Bathing) (16th Century) by Workshop of Maestro Giorgio AndreoliThe Wallace Collection
Women Bathing
Italian sixteenth-century maiolica (tin-glazed earthenware) was often colourfully painted with motifs from Classical Antiquity. This dish, enhanced with iridescent metallic ruby red lustre, was made in 1525 in Maestro Giorgio Andreoli’s workshop in Gubbio.
The women are taken from prints depicting mythological subjects. The fascination for Classical Antiquity is reflected by the pool in which the ladies bathe, with its marble front inspired by Roman precedents, and the flamboyant rim, extravagantly decorated with grotesques.
Portrait of a Young Man with a Lute
This elegantly dressed young man is represented with numerous attributes, absent from later portraits by artists like Frans Hals. The man’s expert grasp on a lute and the instrument’s prominent position in the foreground suggest that he excelled at music.
Portrait of a Young Man with A Lute (16th Century) by Tuscan SchoolThe Wallace Collection
However, the presence of a gilded rapier, writing sheets and statues behind the sitter suggest a person of elevated social status, rather than a simple musician.
Allusions to music, literature and Antiquity were customary signs of distinction and intellectual refinement associated with courtly life, making it probable that the sitter was such a courtier.
An Allegory of True Love (1547) by Pieter PourbusThe Wallace Collection
An Allegory of True Love
A group of allegorical figures are gathered around an ornate dining table, a mensa voluptatis, that bears the food of love. At the centre are a couple —Wisdom (Sapiens) who embraces Fidelity (Fidutia)— who represent spiritual love or the sanctity of Christian marriage.
Around them are famous male lovers from classical antiquity (Adonis, Acontius, and Daphnis) who are each accompanied by two female personifications of sensual and inconstant love (the Graces—Pasithea, Aglaia, Euphrosine; and Affectio, Cordialitas and Reverentia, respectively).
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