NAVIGATION

A Fine Gilt Bronze of Mars the God of War Wearing Ornate Classical Roman Armour with a Plumed Helmet and Swirling Cloak
Attributed to Sebastian Slodtz (Antwerp 1655 - 1726 Paris)
Shield to the base missing
Raised upon a green ‘straw’ porphyry base 
Late 17th – Early 18th Century

Size: 16.5cm high - 6½ ins high
 

The son of a master carpenter, the Flemish sculptor Sebastian Slodtz joined the Paris workshop of François Girardon and under his direction worked on the sculptural decoration of Versailles and its gardens. Working for the court of Louis XIV he became known for producing small bronze models which were often reductions of existing statues in the Royal gardens in Paris. The bronze reduction produced of his marble statue of Hannibal is similar in detail. He married the daughter of Domenico Cucci, a gold and silversmith who also worked for the King and which brought him into valuable contact with other craftsmen. The fine surface and gilding of the bronze suggests the involvement of his goldsmith father-in-law. Mars was a popular subject and at the Meissen porcelain manufactory Kandler produced a figure based on this bronze after 1730. The Elector of Saxony most probably had an example in his collection at Dresden.