Giovanni Bologna

Mars

Zoom image

Giovanni Bologna, 1529–1608
Mars (mid-1570s)
Bronze
39.6 cm

A Bayer employee presented this sculpture of Mars to the Bayer Management Board in the 1980s on condition that it was displayed in a prestigious position in the company. The sculpture is therefore an exceptional item among the Bayer AG art holdings, which concentrate on the twentieth century.

Giovanni Bologna, alias Giambologna, was a pupil of the Flemish sculptor Jacques Dubroeucq. Giambologna travelled to Italy in 1550. In Florence he made the acquaintance of the future Grand Duke Francesco de’ Medici, who in 1561 appointed Giambologna as his court sculptor. The sculptor’s workshop became a meeting place for young Italian, Dutch and German artists.

Giambologna created large sculptures such as the allegorical Florence Triumphant over Pisa, the famous Rape of the Sabine Women, the bronze statue La Fiorenza, and an equestrian statue of Cosimo I de’ Medici. He also produced numerous smaller bronzes that were purchased by people such as the Habsburg emperors and private collectors. These works thus ended up in many countries and had a defining influence on European Mannerism.

Giambologna produced many variations on the motif of Mars, the god of war, who was usually shown striding out energetically. In some versions, Mars has a sword in his right hand.

The statue of Mars owned by Bayer AG depicts the god as a muscular, bearded figure with a determined expression. He is taking a large stride, evidently one of a sequence of movements. This gives great vitality to the statue, which is designed so that it can be viewed from many different angles. The observer has a complete view of the figure depending on where he or she is standing. This style was an innovation by Giambologna and was a controversial topic of discussion in sixteenth-century Florence.

Giambologna presented the bronze to Elector Christian I of Saxony, who listed it in his treasure chamber inventory in 1578. This sculpture is therefore the only version of Mars of which a written record was made during the sculptor’s lifetime.