Ceres

Description

The genesis of the two sculptures is described by Vasari in the life of Bandinelli: "He had likewise made of the same size an Eve that sat which he led up to the half and rest" back on account of the Adam whom he was to accompany: and having given beginning to another Adam of a different form and attitude, it was necessary for him to change Eve again; and a first one that sat was converted by him into a Ceres and he gave it to the Most Illustrious Duchess Leonora in company with an Apollo that was another naked and which he had made: and her Excellency had it put in the facade of the nursery that is in the garden of the Pitti with the design and architecture of Giorgio Vasari." Bocchi praised both statues , made "with infinite artifice and taken from the order of Nature." Also recalled and praised in later sources, the two statues were only adequately commented on by Heikamp . Probably the figure of 'Eve' executed for the choir of the Florentine cathedral begun in 1547, was given to the Grand Duke along with the first 'Adam,' later transformed into Bacchus in 1549. Eva-Cerere's new pendant was Apollo, a 'faciullone' with an obvious function of architectural ornamentation, without any particular compositional notes, which in contrast distinguish female figure. Heikamp pointed out the novelty of the seated pose "unstable...with richness of barely hinted motions...reminiscent of Bandinelli's youthful Leonardo experiences." Both sculptures were placed in the niches where they still stand in 1559, as documents attest. Their executive dating is to be considered between 1547 and April 1548, since on this date the artist was working on the second version of 'Adam and Eve' now in the National Museum, discovered on March 19, 1549