Just across the famous Ponte Vecchio in Florence, there's this beautiful statue by Giambologna (1560-65). Actually, this one is a copy because the original statue is kept in the Bargello Museum. This masterpiece was commissioned by Latanzio Cortesi, friend of the Buonarroti family, to be placed in the medieval tower known as Rossi-Cerchi tower because it had belonged to these two renowned families. The tower was built on the 13th Century and unfortunately destroyed during the second world war. The reconstruction of the Rossi-Cerchi tower took place in 1958 and many of the original stones were reused; the statue was never destroyed because it had been protected during the war as well as the most famous masterpieces in Florence.
In 1638, this Bacchus became property of the Medici family because of some debts of its owners.
The artist was Jean de Boulogne (1529-1608), better known as Giambologna, a flemish sculptor who moved to Florence and died here. His style is the Late Renaissance and mostly the Mannerist style, that had started with Michelangelo and developed by the artists in Florence in the Mid-16th century.
