Leseprobe

125 Nude Man with Serpent Francesco di Giorgio Martini Siena 1439–1501 Siena c. 1495 Bronze; height 113.5 cm Purchased from the estate of Count Heinrich von Brühl in 1765 Inv. no. H2 21/78 The Dresden ‘snake-tamer’ is one of the most unusual sculptural creations of the early Italian Renaissance and is attributed to the Sienese artist Francesco di Giorgio Martini, who was active as an architect, engineer, painter and sculptor. It shows a nude, athletic man of middling age gripping in his raised left hand a snake that is wound in coils around his arm. He stares intently at the head of the snake, which is now missing. In his right hand he once held an object that has meanwhile been lost. Who the figure is intended to represent is a mystery. Suggestions range from Hercules in combat with Achelous, Asclepius, Laocoön or Serpentarius (the serpent-bearer), the thirteenth sign of the zodiac. Its original purpose is also un- clear. The statue may have served as a figure on a fountain; however, if so, since it is solid-cast, it can only have stood in a basin without emitting water itself. It may also possibly have graced a column in an inner courtyard or garden belonging to a humanist. It is in any case remarkable that the figure is entirely naked and thus numbers among the very earliest Renaissance nudes. In terms of style, al- though the statue is expressively realistic, its nudity clearly shows the influence of the art of antiquity. It has been suggested that the pose recalls that of the Apollo Belvedere .  |  ckg