ANTONIO SUSINI (FL. 1580-1624 FLORENCE), AFTER A MODEL BY GIAMBOLOGNA, CIRCA 1600-1620

In 1601 a silver version of the present composition was one of four silver statuettes loaned from the Galleria of the Uffizi to Antonio Susini, presumably for him to make bronze copies. In the inventory made of Benedetto Gondi’s collection in Florence on 4 November 1609, there is mention of “Un pastorino”, and it is given to Giambologna. These early documentary references have led to the general acceptance of the Peasant Resting on his Staff as a model created by Giambologna. The model recalls Giambologna’s Flemish origin and training, upon which he may also have drawn when asked to create many of the decorations for the gardens and grounds of Francesco de’ Medici’s villa at Pratolino in the late 1570s. The exceptional quality of the present cast, with its delicate filing and carefully delineated surface planes, elevate it to one of the finest known examples cast by Antonio Susini, Giambologna's most trusted assistant working in bronze.