TACCA, Pietro

Florentine sculptor in bronzeGLOSSARYAn alloy of copper (usually about 90 per cent) and tin, often also containing small amounts of other metals such as lead or zinc. Since antiquity it has been the metal most commonly used in cast sculpture because of its strength, durability, and the fact that it is easily workable - both hot and cold - by a variety of processes. It is easier to cast than copper because it has a lower melting-point, and its great tensile strength makes possible the protrusion of unsupported parts - an advantage over marble sculpture. The colour of bronze is affected by the proportion of tin or other metals present, varying from silverish to a rich, coppery red, and its surface beauty can be enhanced when it acquires a patina., the chief pupil and follower of Giambologna. After the latter's death Tacca completed a number of his works and succeeded him as sculptor to the Medici Grand Dukes of Tuscany. It was his technical and stylistic acumen in bronze, however that gained him the patronage of the Medici Dukes. He was granted the use for his lifetime of Giambologna studio by Cosimo II in 1616 and later served Ferdinand II as court artist in Spain.

Tacca's works for the Medici include his masterpieces, the four Slaves at the foot of Bandini's statue of Ferdinand I de' Medici at Livorno.