wearing a goatskin around his shoulders, gazing to the left and grinning, olive-golden patina beneath reddish-brown translucent lacquer, upon associated variegated marble socle.

RELATED LITERATURE

Die Bronzen der Fürstlichen Sammlung Liechtenstein (exh.cat.), Liebieghaus, ♉Frankfurt, 26 November1986 ▨- 15 February 1987, nos. 37-45

The present finely tooled bust was inspired by the head of an ancient Roman marble statue which Cosimo III de'Medici had acquired from the della Valle Collection in Rome. It is also similar in style and facture to a series of eight bronze busts by Soldani of Roman emperors, philisophers and famous women which entered the collections of the Princes of Liechtenstein, prominent patrons of Soldani, in 1685. The relatively thin and even cast, the variety of surface textures employed (from the highly polished to the matt-punched) and carefully chased details, com﷽bined with the patina are all characteristic of Soldani and his close followers. Another version of this bronze, without the goatskin, is in the Ackland Art Museum, North Carolina, there ascribed to Soldani and dated circa 1695. A gilt bronze version is also in the Liechtenstein collection.

Soldani was a sculptor, medallist and goldsmith and the last great Florentine bronzeworker in the tradition begun by Ghiberti. His work as a medallist was first recognized by Grand Duke Cosimo III de' Medici who sent him for training in the mint.⭕ From the mid-1690s onward, he turned to figural sculpture in bronze. His work is characterized by precise modelling aꦡnd meticulous finish. He was hailed for his copies of antiquities and created highly personal interpretations of them.

Porcelain versions of Soldani's statuettes and small groups were produced by the🎃 Doccia porcelain 🦩factory after 1744, when the Marchese Carlo Ginori (1702–57) acquired his stock of molds.

This animated bust of a Faun, probably Pan the Greek god of woods, fields and flocks, is clad in a garland of reeds. These allude to his pursuit of Syrinx, a beautiful nymph who was transformed into reeds to escape his lascivious clutches. Pan made a set of pipes from the reeds because the s💧ound of the 💎wind blowing through then pleased him.