Ferdinando Tacca (Italian, 1619 to 1686)
Ferdinando Tacca was both pupil and assistant to his father, Pietro Tacca, until his death in 1640, and succeeded him as the primary sculptor to the Grand Duke of Tuscany, taking over Giambologna’s former foundry and studio in the Borgo Pinti. He completed two of his father’s commissions, the statue of Ferdinando I de Medici for the Cappella de Principi, San Lorenzo, Florence and the equestrian statue of Philip IV for Madrid, contributing four bronze lions to the base (now lost). His most celebrated works are the Fontana del Bacino, Prato (1656 to 1665) and the great bronze relief of the Martyrdom of Saint Stephen presented in 1656 to the church Santo Stefano el Ponte in Florence.
Information courtesy of Sotheby’s, January 2008