Giambologna

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Mercury, bronze figure by Giambologna, c. 1580; in the Bargello …—Alinari/Art Resource, New York

(born 1529, Douai, Spanish Neth.—died Aug. 13, 1608, Florence) Flemish-born Italian sculptor. After studies under Jacques Dubroeucq, he went to Rome in 1550, where his style was influenced by Hellenistic sculpture and the works of Michelangelo; he settled in Florence in 1552. He produced many of his most important works for the Medici family, but it was the Fountain of Neptune (1563–66) in Bologna that made him famous. His bronze equestrian statue of Cosimo I (1587–93), the first of its kind made in Florence, became a pattern for similar statues all over Europe. His garden sculptures—notably for Florence's Boboli Gardens and for three Medici villas, including the colossal Apennine (1570–80) at Pratolino—enjoyed great popularity. He was also a prolific manufacturer of bronze statuettes; many of his working models still survive. He was the outstanding sculptor of Italian Mannerism.

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