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Description After Benvenuto Cellini (Florence, 1500-1571), an Italian patinated bronze model of Perseus and Medusa, second half 19th century, the hero portrayed standing contrapposto, heroically nude for winged sandals and a sash to his chest inscribed BENVENUTUS CELLINI FECIT, standing triumphantly above the slain figure of Medusa, and raising her decapitated head with his left hand, on rectangular figural plinth, 98cm highCellini's vivid contribution to the Loggia dei Lanzi on Florence's Piazza della Signoria is a tour de force of mid-16th century mannerism. Commissioned by Duke Cosimo I de' Medici and unveiled in 1554, the sculpture joined other depictions of other historic heroes on the Piazza, including the famous David by Michelangelo, Hercules and Cacus by Baccio Bandinelli and the earlier Judith and Holofernes by Donatello. The bronze showcases the many new ways in which mannerist sculptors were pushing the boundaries of the body. The decapitated figure of Medusa for instance is folded up in an unlikely pose, and is an example of what critics would come to refer to as a 'figura sforzata' or 'forced figure'. This iconic sculpture was much admired by Grand Tourists, and many 19th century souvenir casts of the work survive. Prince Albert for example acquired a full-size copy of the bronze by Clemente Capi at the Great Exhibition in 1855, which is now in the Royal Collection. The incorporation of Cellini's figural plinth in slightly smaller models, such as this one, is quite rare.Cf Sotheby's Paris, 29 April 2004, lot 160