Fata Morgana

Cleveland Museum of Art

Fata Morgana

GiambolognaLinkedCulture matchlcp-f47945cfa59e

Date
c. 1572
Medium
Marble
Culture
Italy
Department
European Painting and Sculpture
Institution
Cleveland Museum of Art
Object ID
687583

From the Cleveland Museum of Art record

Commissioned by prominent banker Bernardo Vecchietti, whose surname means “old,” Fata Morgana took the name both of the nearby spring that fed the fountain she surmounted, and the legendary fairy who restored King Arthur’s youth. The Fata Morgana is one of only around a dozen sculptures in marble by Giambologna. The artist’s favorite subject was the female nude because of its capacity to showcase his extraordinary ability to model softness in hard stone and to convey dynamic movement. Her twisting pose invites the viewer to appreciate the Fata Morgana from every angle. The sculpture originally appeared to emerge mysteriously from a cave within a constructed grotto.

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Provenance & credit

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Credit line
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
Provenance
1571–72: Commissioned by Bernardo Vecchietti for the Grotto of the Fata Morgana at Villa Il Riposo, Bagno a Ripoli, Italy | 1571–72–c. 1773: In the Grotto of the Fata Morgana and Villa of Il Riposo | 1773: Thomas Patch is noted as possessing the sculpture, in Florence | 1775: October 14: Thomas Patch requests permission to export the sculpture to "an old English gentleman" | 1775: November 20: Thomas Patch is granted permission to export the sculpture | c. 1950: Purchased by Mr. Hoda of Hurst House, Essex | c. 1962/67: Purchased by Charles Worel, London | 1989: Consigned for sale by Charles Worel in the September 13 Christie's at Wrotham Park, Hertfordshire "Garden Furniture and Architectural Fittings" sale, lot 232 | 1989: Sept. 13: Patricia Wengraf (then trading as Alex Wengraf Ltd.), purchased at Christie's South Kensington at Wrotham Park, Hertfordshire, lot 232 | 1998: Private Collector, acquired from Alex Wengraf Ltd. | 2025: The Cleveland Museum of Art, purchased through Patricia Wengraf Ltd., from the above private collection

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