CIRCLE OF Lorenzo VACCARO. (1655-1706). Neapolitan,... Lot 23

CIRCLE OF Lorenzo VACCARO. (1655-1706). Neapolitan, 1st quarter of the 18th century. EQUESTRIAN STATUE in patinated bronze probably representing the Archduke Leopold-Guillaume of Habsburg (Wiener Neustadt, January 5, 1614 - Vienna, November 20, 1662) after Susini. H.bronze : 27,5 W.22 without base, H.37.5 with base. Leopold-Guillaume of Habsburg was governor-general of the Catholic Southern Spanish Netherlands, military leader and patron of the arts. In his Brussels palace, he had a gallery of Italian paintings. David Tenier Le Jeune, his official painter, painted him in several pictures, one of which is in the Brussels museum. It shows the Archduke and his guests in front of a table with a bronze by the Florentine sculptor Gianfrancesco Susini (c.1585 -1653) representing him on horseback in armor. This bronze is illustrated in Leo Planiscig, Die Bronzenplastiken, Katalog, 1924 - Wien, p. 176, ill. 281 (see pdf). It seems obvious that our equestrian statuette was made later from this bronze by the entourage of Lorenzo Vaccaro. The workmanship, the chiseling of the horse's coat, the hooves, the armor and other finishing touches are characteristic of this Neapolitan workshop. Provenance of our group: Private collection from Normandy, having acquired this bronze in 1979 from the estate of Mr. Jacques Rueff, French Academician, economist, who implemented the Franc Lourd with Antoine Pinay under Charles de Gaulle. (Plan Rueff - Pinay). There is a certificate of Arnaud Souffrice, successor, expert firm Jean-Louis Souffrice in Deauville. Comparative literature. Our bronze is to be compared to the following statuettes attributed to Lorenzo Vaccaro : Christie's : a bronze equestrian model of King Philip of Spain - 67.5 cm / Attributed to Lorenzo Vaccaro circa 1705 - lot 131 / Sale 7864 / 8 July 2010 / Price realized £469.250. Christie's : Gilt bronze group probably representing Philip V of Spain, entourage of Lorenzo Vaccaro, first quarter of the XVIIIth century - lot 272 / Sale 3531, 3- 4 October 2012 / Price realized : €18.750