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River God

Former TitleOceanus
Attributed to Alessandro Vittoria (Italian, 1525 - 1608)
Dateearly 17th century
MediumTerracotta
DimensionsOverall: 21 × 6 1/2 × 7 inches (53.34 × 16.51 × 17.78 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust through the George H. and Elizabeth O. Davis Fund
Object number69-3
On View
On view
Gallery Location
  • 111
Collections
Exhibition History
N/A
Gallery Label
This is one of four terracotta models attributed to Alessandro Vittoria that have survived, and it demonstrates the rich effects of detail that can be obtained in this medium. It was possibly intended as a study for a larger work in marble or bronze, as yet unidentified. Alessandro Vittoria was the leading sculptor in Venice in the second half of the 16th century and worked in a slightly Mannerist style influenced by Giambologna.
Provenance

Chisse collection, Paris;

Max Lyon (1854-1925), Paris, as La Source, as by Michelangelo, by 1914 [1];

With Dr. Max Hugo Oelze (1892-1967), Amsterdam, as by Alessandro Vittoria, by 1967;

His posthumous sale, Highly Important Objects of Art Forming the Late Dr. M. Hugo Oelze collection, Paul Brandt, Amsterdam, April 24, 1968, lot 45;

With Edward R. Lubin, Inc., New York, by 1969;

Purchased from Edward R. Lubin, Inc. by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1969.

NOTES:

[1] This sculpture was offered for sale by Lyon at The Important Collection of Works of Art Chiefly Italian of the Mediaeval and Renaissance Periods formed by M. Max Lyon, Christie, Manson and Woods, London, May 18-25, 1914, lot 94, as La Source, as by Michelangelo, with a provenance from the Chisse collection, Paris, but failed to sell, according to Jeffrey Pilkington, Christie’s Archives, in an email to MacKenzie Mallon, Provenance Specialist, August 2, 2018, NAMA curatorial files.

Published References

Catalogue of the Important Collection of Works of Art Chiefly Italian (London: Christie, Manson and Woods, 1914), 31, (repro.).

The Collection of the Late Dr. M. Hugo Oelze—Amsterdeam (New York: Edward R. Lubin, April 24, 1968), 45, as The rivergod.

Ralph T. Coe, “Small European Sculptures,” Apollo 96, no. 130 (December 1972): 53, (repro.), as River god.

Ross E. Taggart and George L. McKenna, eds., Handbook of the Collections in The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, Kansas City, Missouri, vol. 1, Art of the Occident, 5th ed. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1973), 87, (repro.), as River God.

Information about a particular artwork or image, including provenance information, is based upon historic information and may not be currently accurate or complete. Research on artwork and images is an ongoing process, and the information about a particular artwork or image may not reflect the most current information available to the Museum. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about a particular artwork or image, please e-mail provenance@nelson-atkins.org.


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