One of the rarest examples of a Mannerist master’s works is coming to the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Giambologna’s “Fata Morgana” will be on view starting Aug. 30. The female nude is one of only a dozen marble pieces by the artist, as his patrons rarely allowed outside commissions.
“Giambologna is really the preeminent sculptor of the Mannerist period,” said Alexander Noelle, the museum’s assistant curator of European paintings and sculpture. “He bridges Renaissance sculpture and Baroque sculpture. So, this has elevated our Mannerist holdings [and] our holdings of European art.”
The “Fata Morgana” was commissioned in the early 1570s by Bernardo Vecchietti, an adviser to Medici dukes Cosimo I and Francesco I. The artist lived at Vecchietti’s grotto, where the sculpture first resided. The name “Fata Morgana” was inspired by the spring that flowed into the grotto.
Cory Korkow, curator of European painting and sculpture, visited the site in Florence during the year-long acquisition process, and described it as “a place where art and nature meet.”
“We were able to be in that space and get a sense of the light as it would move across the windows,” she said.
The statue will be displayed in a setting with design elements reminiscent of the grotto.
“It was as if she was emerging from a cave behind the basin of the fountain, reaching down into it with her shell,” Noelle said. “Giambologna clearly knew where he was carving this for. He knew the footprint and how it needed to fit.”
As “Fata Morgana” changed hands in Italy and then England over the centuries, Giambologna’s authorship was lost to time. The sculpture was reattributed in 1989 after being consigned for sale by Christie’s auction house. Art dealer Patricia Wengraf purchased the piece for £715,000 and later sold it to a private collector. Wengraf facilitated the sale to the museum for an undisclosed price. Korkow said they traced the sculpture’s ownership over the past year.
“When we did presentations to our board, we were showing images of the exact export license from 1775 in Italy,” she said. “We’ve always really prioritized sharing as much provenance information as we possibly can.”
Giambologna primarily sculpted in bronze, and only two other marble sculptures reside outside of Italy. One is in London and the other at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles.
