Giovan Francesco Susini

(Firenze, 1585 - Firenze, 1653)

School of

Flaminio Vacca

(Roma, 1538 - Roma, 1605)

in the way of

This lion reproduces the marble sculpted by Flaminio Vacca in 1600. The sculpture was originally commissioned as a pendant to an antique lion for the Roman villa of Ferdinand I de' Medici. Both lions now stand on the steps of the Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence.

A parallel can be drawn between this bronze and another lion attributed by Charles Aver to Gianfrancesco Susini (Michael Hall's collection). That bronze reproduces the pendant antique lion, while ours derives from the one sculpted by Flaminio Vacca. Both lions share an extreme smoothness of the metal, combined with a very fine punching technique on the mane. In addition, they have in common square jaws, prominent teeth and comb-liked signs of curls on animal body. The last feature, not seen in other lions from the same school, creates a very strong connection between the two sculptures.

All of these formal elements make us speculate the proximity of our bronze to the school of Gianfrancesco Susini, to be verified in further studies.