Francesco Formigli (1682-1769)

A 1734 listing of bronzes commissioned by Filippo Martelli documents ten bronzes made by the Florentine sculptor Francesco Formigli. Tantalisingly, these include 'Una figura in bronzo, che rappresenta un Mercurio' (Schmidt et al. op. cit.). Compare the present bronze Mercury with Formigli's Dancing Faun from the Museo di Casa Martelli, Florence (inv. no. 89) and the Apollo Sauroktonos from the same museum, both published in Schmidt et al. (op. cit.).