Crocodile-shaped Oil Lamp

Object belonging

One's own

Category

Bronze sculpture

City

Rome

Location

Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia

Specific location

Room 16

Inventory

PV 09257

Material and technique

Bronze, natural green patina

Author

Northern Italian School (Padua?)

Dating

15th-16th century

Dimensions

3 x 5.5 x 16.5 cm.

Origin

Barsanti Collection (1934)

Image copyright

SSPSAE e per il Polo Museale della città di Roma

Short description

The lamp was attributed by Pollak to Riccio and by Santangelo to the artist’s workshop. The latter believed that the model derived from a crystal or a hardstone carving. It is unlikely, though, that such imprecise and hasty modelling, where the crocodile’s scales are barely noticeable, would have originated from Riccio’s studio. It is more likely that the bronze derives from an engraving or a classical work of art.

Pietro Cannata

Bibliography

L. Pollak, Raccolta Alfredo Barsanti (Trecento-Settecento), Bergamo 1922, p. 45, no. 30; A. Santangelo, Museo di Palazzo Venezia. Catalogo delle sculture, Rome 1954, p. 36.