Venus Anadyomene. Tuscany, 16th-17th century. Bronze and transparent reddish patina.

29 x 1 3x 12 cm

The subject of Venus wringing her hair, anadyomene, became widespread during the Renaissance following the rediscovery of ancient sculptures and thanks to the diffusion of engravings, see Marcantonio Raimondi.

The iconography of this bronze statuette has strong assonances with Giambologna's Fiorenza, formerly the cusp of the labyrinth fountain (Villa Medici di Castello), now inside Villa della Petraia.

Whoever created our unpublished bronze statuette was well aware of both the ancient models and the contemporary one created by Giambologna. In fact, the inconsistencies stop at the vase, on which Giambologna's Venus rests her foot and ours does not, and at the slightly more voluminous hairstyle in our bronze.

Finally, we note the beautiful transparent reddish patina, typical of the best Tuscan productions of the period from Giambologna onwards.

For these reasons we place this fascinating bronze statuette within the context of Tuscan production, probably from the 17th century.