# Saccomazzone Players [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [SUSINI, Francesco]() - Date: 1601-1650 - Technique: Bronze, golden-brown lacquer patina, height 42 cm \(with socle\) ## Commentary This statue depicts two blindfolded youth, one crouching low behind the other figure who raises a sling. In 17th century Italian courtly life the Gioco del Saccomazzone was a game played during the interludes of rustic dances. It involved two blindfolded men attempting to hit each other with a knotted cloth without lifting their left hands from an object in the middle of the room, while also shrieking imitations of bird cries. Orazio Mochi \(1571-1625\) originally conceived this comical composition in around 1620, and the small witty bronze of Saccomazzone Players was later enlarged to life-size pietra serena group for the Boboli Gardens by the sculptor Romolo Ferrucci del Tadda \(c. 1550-1621\). Susini's statue is based on Mochi's design. He chose a very narrow oval plinth for his bronze cast, so the players' wild thrashing in the air is shown to better advantage. ## Related artworks - [Artichoke Fountain \(detail\)]() - [Artichoke Fountain]() - [Artichoke Fountain]() - [David with the Head of Goliath]() - [Fraud]() - [Illustration from "Disegni e misure e regole"]() - [Illustration from "Disegni e misure e regole"]() - [Illustration from "Disegni e misure e regole"]() - [Kneeling Woman Bathing]() - [Laocoön]() - [Striding Bull]() - [Striding Horse]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()