English: Leda and the Swan. Bronze on grey-green marble base with bronze mount, 49.6 × 33.3 × 20.7 cm (19 1/2 × 13 1/8 × 8 1/8 in.), designed before 1717; cast about 1725. Object Number: 97.SB.61.1.
Master sculptor Massimiliano Soldani Benzi cast the bronze groups of Andromeda and the Sea Monster and Leda and the Swan as pendants. Each depicts an episode from classical mythology, and the two are visually linked by opposing compositions. Leda reclines, forming a diagonal from the lower right to the upper left. This line is balanced by that created by Andromeda—a diagonal moving from the lower left to the upper right—as she attempts to escape. Both figures also display heightened emotion: Leda expresses seductive eroticism, and Andromeda expresses terrifying horror.
Each group retains its original base, golden reddish lacquer patina, and elaborate matching bronze mounts on the base.
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