Set of Six Tritons
maker
Unknown
Date17th century
Place MadeVenice, Veneto, Italy, Europe
MediumSandstone
Dimensions45.7 x 45.7 cm (18 x 18 in.)
ClassificationsArchitectural Elements
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberS5s29.1-6
eMuseum ID717051
Previous NumberS5s29.1-11
Original NumberS5s22-s to S5s32-s
EmbARK ObjectID19844
Previous NumberS5s29
TMS Source ID25621
Last Updated11/8/24
Status
Not on viewWeb CommentaryIsabella Stewart Gardner purchased the stone sculptures around the rim of the Courtyard fountain in Venice. She arranged the display during the construction of the museum. In her design, Isabella alternated friezes of dolphins, cornucopias, and masks with tritons, a Greek god of the sea represented as a merman (half-man, half-fish) blowing a conch shell.
BibliographyNotesCatalogue. Fenway Court. (Boston, 1903), p. 4. (as "Venetian fountain")
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 45. (as several pieces of 17th century carving, probably Venetian)
Cornelius C. Vermeule III et al. Sculpture in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1977), p. 155, no. 193. (as Venetian, 17th century)
Pieranna Cavalchini and Amanda Esteves-Kraus (eds.). Portrait (Boston, 2012), p. 60. (quoting the diary of Willard T. Sears on 17 Sept. 1901)
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 45. (as several pieces of 17th century carving, probably Venetian)
Cornelius C. Vermeule III et al. Sculpture in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1977), p. 155, no. 193. (as Venetian, 17th century)
Pieranna Cavalchini and Amanda Esteves-Kraus (eds.). Portrait (Boston, 2012), p. 60. (quoting the diary of Willard T. Sears on 17 Sept. 1901)
ProvenanceNotesPurchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from the antique dealer A. Clerle, Venice on 27 September 1897 for 280 lire (for seven Tritons).
