Entourage de Hubert GERHARD (Bois-le-Duc, vers 1540 - Munich, 1620) et de Caspar GRAS (Bad Mergentheim, vers 1585 - Schwaz, 1674)

REMOVAL OF EUROPE Prague (?), circa 1620-1640 Bronze with light brown patina; black lacquered and gilded wooden base Accidents H. 34 cm, W. 37 cm, D. 22 cm This sumptuous bronze sculpted group, presented on a black lacquered base decorated with gilded scales, shows Europa carried off by Jupiter in the form of a young bull. Our artist distances himself here from the mythological story. The young woman is naked and holds a cornucopia in her hands. The beautiful body of Europa is reminiscent of the personification of the river Singold on the Fountain of Augustus in Augsburg (fig. 1). The same sinuous lines, the same movement of the left foot with a slight tension in the big toe, and a similar refinement in the hairstyle can be seen in this bronze figure by Hubert Gerhard. Caspar Gras also drew inspiration from this for the marine deities that adorn the Leopold Fountain in Innsbruck (fig. 2). Caspar Gras is known as one of the most talented assistants of the master, whose forms and models he helped to disseminate in Austria in the 17th century, working at the court of the Archduke Leopold V. His group Mercury and Psyche, preserved in Vienna, can be compared to our group, especially in the treatment of the faces and the hair, the finely incised locks under intertwined braids (fig. 3). Gras was also famous for his animal bronzes with a light brown patina. Whether it is the rearing Chevral or the leaping roaring Lion, the posture of the animals testifies to his capacity for invention by departing from established iconographic patterns. (fig. 4 and 5). The lion, with its horned ears emerging from its mane and its hair on the back of its thighs, is comparable to our bull. The triangular composition of our group, with its high quality of casting, chasing and modelling of the figures, should be compared with another monumental bronze group, sculpted and chased by Hubert Gerhard and Caspar Gras in collaboration with the founder Henrich Reinhart in the cathedral of Innsbruck (fig. 6). Our sculptor has assimilated the lesson of the master. His inventiveness shows a strong personality. Here, in this Abduction of Europa, there is neither veil nor crown of flowers but a cornucopia as the only accessory.