Nymphs dancing

For some sculptural commissions, a leading artist such as Giambologna made only the model and the work was executed by others. Ideas were also transmitted by terracotta models, plaquettes and engravings, as well as by decorative objects for which sculptors had provided designs. This terracotta is taken from mythological scenes based on the Metamorphoses of Ovid. It was probably made by Jacob Cornelisz Cobaert after designs by the sculptor Guglielmo della Porta. Cobaert was born in the Netherlands but settled in Rome in the 1570s, where he became a pupil and assistant of della Porta. He excelled at small-scale sculpture and his reliefs were much admired. Their designs were disseminated by terracotta casts made for use by goldsmiths.