Ceres

Ceres holds a sheaf of wheat in her outstretched arms and wears a helmet decorated with leaves. The bronze statuette entered The Met with its pair, Hercules Carrying His Club (cat. 68B). The figures have opposing contrappostos—she sways gently to her proper right, he to his left—and likely topped andirons, as they have long iron rods plugged into their bases. With their rough surfaces and minimal detail, both are probably serial casts of models designed by Nicolò Roccatagliata.[1] Another Ceres, poorly executed but with more distinct facial features and a slightly different posture, can be found in the Szépművészeti Múzeum, Budapest, where it is assigned to Roccatagliata.[2] A better version in the Galleria Estense, Modena, has been attributed to Girolamo Campagna.[3]


Footnotes
(For key to shortened references see bibliography in Allen, Italian Renaissance and Baroque Bronzes in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. NY: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2022.)


1. See Planiscig 1921, p. 620, figs. 694, 696–98.
2. Inv. 5313; see Balogh 1975, vol. 1, p. 177, no. 236, with other examples.
3. See Salvini 1948; P. Rossi 1968, p. 47.