Giambologna
Venus Kneeling, c. 1584, terracotta
The work, acquired by Horne at the beginning of the twentieth century, was identified as the preparatory model for a small bronze sculpture by Giambologna, kept at the National Museum of the Bargello in Florence: this piece came from the Roman collections of Ferdinando de’ Medici.
Venus is shown kneeling, in the act of drying herself, using the drape that she had wrapped around her head like a turban. The torsion of her body suggests that she is to be seen from a variety of viewpoints. The composition, datable to 1565-66, was inspired by a Hellenistic model, known to Giambologna through versions preserved in Roman collections of the sixteenth century.
Horne especially loved this terracotta work: in 1908, he commissioned Harris Brown to paint his portrait showing him with this very piece in his hands, as a symbol of his love for art.
