Among the new acquisitions is Giovanni Battista Foggini’s “Apollo Flaying Marsyas”. The exquisitely detailed Florentine bronze sculpture purchased at auction at Christie’s, New York, captures the essence of Italian Baroque style and emotion. 

Giovanni Battista Foggini’s “Apollo Flaying Marsyas” is a masterpiece of Italian Baroque sculpture. This striking statuette is categorized as a bronzetto (small bronze), yet it captures the presence and intensity of larger artworks. Two feet tall, and ingeniously designed to reward close viewing from all angles, this sculpture emanates monumentality in form and content. 

Its exquisite quality and condition, as well as its unrivaled position at the pinnacle of Foggini’s production of bronzetti—the master’s specialty—makes Apollo Flaying Marsyas a highly sought-after example of the work of this leading Tuscan sculptor. Following a smallpox infection in his youth, Foggini developed a physical disability affecting his hip, which made it difficult for him to walk and/or stand for extended periods of time. Because he could not make works of monumental scale himself, he instead cultivated an interest in statuettes; this focus led him to become a master in the medium. 

In Greek mythology, the overconfident satyr (half-goat, half-man) Marsyas challenged Apollo, god of the arts, to a musical duel. The defeated Marsyas was tied to a tree and skinned alive as punishment for his pride. Foggini’s sculpture captures the moment of Apollo’s first incision as the bound Marsyas cries out in agony. The gnarled branches echo the satyr’s anguish while the god’s wrath is manifest in his billowing drapery. 

Apollo Flaying Marsyas was acquired at Christie’s, New York, in “Modern Medici: Masterpieces from a New York Collection” on January 27, 2023. 

It will be installed in the Donna and James Reid Gallery for Italian Baroque art (217) in early May.