Ganymede

This sculpture is a remake of an antique torso, probably representing Bacchus, which the Prince of Palestrina, Stefano Colonna, donated to Duke Cosimo I de' Medici in 1548. With the assistance of a Flemish artist, Willem van Tetrode, Cellini sculpted the missing parts (arms, head, feet with base, and eagle), and interpreted the classical myth in an ironical manner: the future cup bearer of the gods plays with the eagle sent by Zeus to abduct him, and takes away one of its eaglets. The artist manages to create quite a modern work thanks to the perfect connection between old and new, in line with the restoration method of his era.