Cellini, "Nettuno" (1560), Firenze -- with two seahorses

Speranza




Benvenuto Cellini, Nettuno, circa 1560.
Bronze, 9 1/2 x 2 3/4 x 5 1/2 in,
North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, Collezione Arthur W. Levy, Jr.

This bronze sculpture was originally crafted for a Florentine fountain piece competition around 1560 and attributed to Italian artist Benvenuto Cellini.

Although Cellini supposedly lost the contest, he was successful in rendering a cohesive version of Nettuno complete with the deity’s washboard abs and hippocamps (those chariot pulling equestrian water beasts!)

Only where is his trident these days?