Spring – Allegory of Gardening
Massimiliano Soldani
Florence, 1711
Bronze
68,8 x 85,5 x 13,0 cm
Inv.-Nr. R 3924
From the Düsseldorf Gallery, transferred from the Royal Collections
Gallery 36
Ferdinando, heir to the Duchy of Tuscany, gave a set of two pairs of reliefs by Massimiliano Soldani to his brother-in-law, Johann Wilhelm, the Elector Palatine, in 1708 and 1711. Masterpieces of Florentine bronze sculpture of the period, they are allegories of Gardening, Agriculture, Viticulture and of the Arts and they symbolize the four seasons and the prosperity of the Palatinate. Bronze mounts and inscriptions on the elegant frames elucidate each representation. Spring is represented as a feast of the goddess Flora celebrated by Vertumnus and Pomona to the strains of music made by putti. Nymphs are depicted dancing around a sacrificial altar and placing wreaths about a herm with Pan’s head. Jupiter, father of the gods, appears in the clouds with Juno, Zephir and Iris above a rainbow.
des Bayerischen Nationalmuseum
des Bayerischen Nationalmuseum
