WILLIAM JOHNSTON’S BRONZETTI: The power of small sculptures with Kathleen Olive

Bronzetti, small, hand-held bronze sculptures, became enormously popular in Italy from the 16^th century. The technical challenges and classical aesthetic of scale reproductions of ancient and modern sculptures – from the Apollo Belvedere to Giambologna’s Mercury – fascinated artists and patrons alike.

Thanks to the Grand Tour, Europeans could collect them in quantity, along with plaster casts and other studies. A shorthand for education, connoisseurship and refinement, such reproductions are well-represented in The Johnston Collection, and we discover their fascinating histories.

DR KATHLEEN OLIVE has a PhD in Italian Studies from the University of Sydney, where she also taught Italian language, literature, and history.

Since 2003 she has led cultural tours to Europe, the USA and Japan. Kathleen is a national lecturer for the Australian Decorative and Fine Arts Society (ADFAS).

Perfectly poised, full of energy, and a tour-de-force of technique: Giambologna’s Mercury in a 19^th century reproduction in The Johnston Collection (A0762).

This lecture is supported by The Colin Holden Charitable Trust