Giambologna, Court Sculptor to Ferdinando I: his art, his style and the Medici gifts to Henry IV

Abstract

Recently discovered documents show that Giambologna, the great sculptor at the court of the Medici whose bronzes delighted all Europe, made six large garden sculptures for King Henri IV of France, otherwise unknown. This book describes the garden project and discusses three bronzes identified as from the project, in particular a hitherto unknown Venus. Ferdinando I de Medici, Grand Duke of Florence, built up his relationship with the French crown with numerous diplomatic gifts, including the creation of new gardens at St-German-en-Laye laid out for him by the engineer and designer Tommaso Francini, who had designed and built his own Pratolino gardens, and sculptures by Giambologna that would adorn them. This was in the years 1597-1600, and preparatory to the marriage of his daughter Maria to Henri IV in 1600 in the most spectacular wedding celebrations ever seen in Europe.