Crab

Object belonging

One's own

Category

Bronze sculpture

City

Rome

Location

Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia

Specific location

Room 16

Inventory

PV 09254

Material and technique

Bronze, natural patina

Author

Paduan School

Dating

Early 16th century

Dimensions

5.9 x 17.5 x 12 cm.

Origin

Barsanti Collection (1934)

Image copyright

SSPSAE e per il Polo Museale della città di Roma

Short description

Pollak and Planiscig both attributed this Crab to Riccio, while Santangelo thought it to be the work of his studio. Unlike the depictions of toads held by Palazzo Venezia, this crab was created from a real-life mould, using the same procedure adopted in other versions of the bronze. The firmness of the shell allowed the theories of Cennino Cennini to be realized; Cennini’s 14th century Treatise on Painting took up ideas expressed by Pliny the Younger in his Natural History. There are many, almost identical, examples of such crabs in collections and museums throughout Europe and America.

Pietro Cannata

Bibliography

L. Pollak, Raccolta Alfredo Barsanti (Trecento-Settecento), Bergamo 1922, no. 27 p. 42; A. Santangelo, Museo di Palazzo Venezia. Catalogo delle sculture, Rome 1954, p. 34.