Game of Owl

Description

The "Owl Game" is a sculptural group consisting of two white marble statues and depicts two young men playing. The purpose of the "Owl" was to remove the hat from the companion who, in an attempt to escape , had to bend over continuously. The present group was commissioned in 177 5 by Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo from Giovan Battista Capezzuoli, the work was to replace a group of the same subject that was in very poor condition at the time. The original group had been commissioned in 1618 by Giulio Parigi from a certain sculptor Matteo ; later the group had passed into the hands of Fabrizio Farina, who probably only made a sketch of a figure, in fact, in 1621, the commission was given to Bartolomeo Rossi . Rossi finished the group the following year, as evidenced by the payment made to the sculptor on November 4, 1622: " for a statue in pietra bigia that makes an owl" . From the table of the "Giuochi Rusticali" executed by Gaetano Vascellini in 1788, it appears that the group was initially composed of three figures, although, the commission made in 1618, to Matteo sculptor provided only "two stone statues" . Of the 19th-century copy, only two sculptures have come down to us, and we do not know whether there was actually a third