Acrobat-shaped oil lamp

In a contorted pose, this male figure raises his legs up to the sides of his head, holding them with his hands at thigh height. In the center of the buttocks, there is an opening introduced by an acanthus leaf-shaped spout designed to hold the flame of the oil lamp. The composition, likely inspired by ancient Roman bronze art, ironically comments on the expression of the subject, who appears to be reacting to the burning sensation.
The figure is secured with an M-shaped bracket to the leg of a tall bird of prey, modeled from life. It remains uncertain if this element was originally part of the bronze sculpture or added later. Initially, it is probable that the lamp was designed to be suspended by a chain affixed to the ankles, enhancing the peculiar nature of the subject.
The piece from the Collezione Barsanti is in suboptimal condition; restorations have been made to both feet, and there are various casting imperfections located beneath the throat, on the left leg, and around the spout (Pollak 1922, p. 36, n. 21; Santangelo 1954, p. 32; Cannata 2011, pp. 66–67, cat. 66).
There are two recognized variants of the acrobat-shaped oil lamp, which are quite similar in style and composition. The first variant features a bearded figure, as observed in examples from the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris (Planiscig 1927, 182) and the Lubin Gallery in New York (Frosien-Leinz 1985, 508–509, cat. 221). The second variant depicts a beardless man, exemplified by the piece formerly held in Milan in the Trivulzio Collection (Bode 1907, I, 28, plate XLVII), another previously housed in Vienna in the Berl Collection (Planiscig 1927, 182), one recently sold at auction (Zock 2002, 42–47), and the specimen under examination here.
These oil lamps have often been misidentified by scholars and experts as genuine archaeological artifacts. They were frequently reproduced in engravings for encyclopedias and treatises as examples of ancient bronze work. Notable individuals who made this error include seventeenth-century physician Fortunio Liceto (Liceto 1652, coll. 966–974), Lorenzo Legati who authored the catalog of Ferdinando Cospi’s Bologna collection (Legati 1677, 331–334), Dutchman Jacob de Wilde who owned a version (de Wilde 1700, plate XVI), Bernard de Mountfaucon, a founder of modern archaeology (de Mountfaucon 1719, V/2, 207, plate CLII), and Diderot and D’Alembert, who included a version in their Encyclopédie (Suite 1777, plate 8, fig. 10). Salomon Reinach’s classical statuary repertoire also included them (Reinach 1897–1980, IV, 357, cat. 6). At the beginning of the twentieth century, scholars gradually recognized the modernity of the composition. Wilhelm von Bode suggested attributing it to Andrea Briosco, known as il Riccio (Bode 1904, 14, cat. 321; Bode 1907, I, 28, plate XLVII; Bode 1930, plate XXVII). Leo Planiscig later supported this attribution (Planiscig 1927, 181–182; Planiscig 1930, 19). Other scholars made a general reference to the Paduan area (Lorusso 1985, 153, cat. 90; Bliss 1995, 13–20).
The name Severo da Ravenna has recently been suggested, primarily because a bird of prey’s talons appear in some examples, which is a common element in his work (Zock 2002, 42–47, cat. 7; Rago 2010–2011, 11, 16, 27 fig. 29; Cannata 2011, 66–67, cat. 66). However, the zoomorphic bases were likely added later and the acrobat does not exhibit the stylistic traits unique to Riccio or Severo da Ravenna, aside from an ironic and naturalistic style that was prevalent in many workshops in Padua at the beginning of the sixteenth century (Siracusano 2017, 163–164, cat. 1; Malgouyres 2020, 253).

Marco Scansani

Entry published on 12 June 2025

Fair.

Rome, Collezione Alfredo Barsanti, 1934;
Rome, Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Venezia, 1934.

Liceto Fortunio, De lucernis antiquorum reconditis, Padova 1652;
Legati Lorenzo, Museo Cospiano annesso a quello del famoso Ulisse Aldrovandi e donata alla sua patria dall'illustrissimo Signor Ferdinando Cospi, Bologna 1677;
de Wilde Maria, Signa antiqua e Museo Jacob de Wilde: veterum poetarum carminibus illustrate et per Mariam filiam aeri inscripta, Amsterdam 1700;
de Montfaucon Bernard, L’Antiquité expliquée et representee en figures, 5 voll., Paris 1719;
Suite de recueil de planches, sur le sciences, les arts libéraux, et les arts méchanique, avec leur explication, Paris 1777;
Reinach Salomon, Répertoire de la statuaire grecque et romaine, 6 voll., Paris 1897-1980;
Bode Wilhelm, Die italienischen Bronzen, Berlin 1904;
Bode Wilhelm, The Italian Bronze Statuettes of the Renaissance, 3 voll., Berlin 1907-1912;
von Bode Wilhelm, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Bildwerke des Kaiser-Friedrich-Museums. Die italienischen Bildwerke der Renaissance und des Barock. Zweiter Band. Bronzestatuetten. Büste und Gebrauchsgegenstände, Berlin 1930;
Pollak Ludwig, Raccolta Alfredo Barsanti, Roma 1922;
Planiscig Leo, Andrea Riccio, Wien 1927;
Planiscig Leo, Piccoli bronzi italiani del Rinascimento, Milano 1930;
Santangelo Antonino (a cura di), Museo di Palazzo Venezia. Catalogo delle sculture, Roma 1954;
Lorusso, in Mattaliano Emanuele (a cura di), Da Borso a Cesare d’Este: la scuola di Ferrara 1450-1628, catalogo della mostra (Londra, Matthiesen Fine Art Ltd., giugno-agosto 1984), Ferrara 1985;
Frosien-Leinz, in Beck Herbert, Blume Dieter (a cura di), Natur und Antike in der Renaissance, catalogo della mostra (Francoforte sul Meno, Liebieghaus, 5 dicembre 1985-2 marzo 1986), Frankfurt am Main 1985, pp. 508-509, cat. 221;
Bliss Joseph R., A Renaissance Acrobat Lamp by Andrea Riccio: its Mistaken History as an Ancient Bronze, in «Source», XIV, 1985, pp. 13-20;
Zock Katherine, European Sculpture, New York 2002;
Rago Tommaso, “Calzettiana tarda”: i bronzetti della bottega ravennate di Severo Calzetta del Museo Nazionale del Bargello e del Museo Stefano Bardini a Firenze, in «Proporzioni», XI-XII, 2010-2011 (2015), pp. 5-38;
Cannata Pietro, Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia. Sculture in bronzo, Roma 2011;
Siracusano Luca, Agostino Zoppo, Trento 2017;
Malgouyres Philippe, De Filarete à Riccio: bronzes italiens de la Renaissance (1430-1550): la collection du Musée du Louvre, Paris 2020.