Hercules and the Cretan Bull

Giambologna

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Giovanni Bologna modelled, ca. 1576, twelve Labors of Hercules for Francesco I Medici, mentioned by Simone Fortuna in a letter of 27 October 1581 to the Duke of Urbino, six of which were cast by Michele Mazzafiri in silver between 1576–89, and placed in the Tribuna of the Uffizi. All twelve Labors are known in bronze versions, which relate to the style of Giovanni Bologna, although both models and the silver statuettes are lost.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art