Piccoli Grandi Bronzi

The catalogue of the exhibition held from 20 th March to 21 st June 2015 offers overview of the outstanding collection of bronze statuettes put together by the Houses of Medici and Lorraine in the course of some three centuries and now kept in the National Archaeological Museum of Florence. The book, which shows 171 works from the Hellenistic and Roman eras, is a fascinating exploration of art, mythology and iconography illustrated by the reproductions in miniature of Gods and Heroes (including Venus, Bacchus, Mercury, Diana, Jupiter, Minerva, Apollo, the mysterious Hecate and the emblematic Hypnos); Human Figures (such rulers as Alexander the Great, Arsinoe of Egypt and Demetrios Poliorketes, who had themselves portrayed as gods or even identified with them); Athletes and Horsemen (who were not uncommonly ranked with the gods); and Actors, Players and Grotesque Figures, who regularly mocked the world of the supernatural to entertain their audiences or the courts whose guests they were.