AMMANATI, Bartolomeo
(b. 1511, Settignano, d. 1592, Firenze)

Victory

1540
Marble, height 262 cm
Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence

This group is perhaps one of the most noble and graceful works made by the sculptor. So light is the step of the symbolic Victory that it barely seems to be felt. The weight of the female figure dominating the vanquished male seems to be measured in moral and idealistic rather than merely physical terms.

The statue was part of a funeral monument which was destroyed by Ammanati's jealous competitor, Baccio Bandinelli.