| Artist | Giambologna (French b.1529, d.1608) ; Giambologna, Workshop of (estab. 1553, closed 1608) |
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| Title | Anatomical Figure of a Horse (ecorche) |
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| Date | 1585 |
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| Period | 16th century; 1580s |
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| Description | This extraordinary piece lies at the heart of the Torrie Collection. It portrays the flayed figure of a horse and is thought to have come from the studio of Giambologna; the most influential sculptor in Europe after Michelangelo. The sculpture captures the quest of Renaissance artists to understand the mechanics of the body ‘under the skin’.
A clear visual relationship exists between the sculpture and woodcuts printed in the first published thesis on equine anatomy; Carlo Ruini’s Anatomia del Cavallo (1598). The sculpture almost certainly informed the illustrations, testifying to the astonishing anatomical detail. |
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| Material | bronze (metal)/copper alloy/nonferrous metal/metal/inorganic material/materials (substances); plywood/plant material/materials (substances) |
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| Dimensions | 90.2 x 87.3 x 23 cm.
plinth: 81.1 x 41.6 x 7 cm |
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| Subject | animal |
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| Collection | Art Collection; Object Lessons; Torrie Collection |
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| Accession Number | EU0643 |
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