Artist

(b. 1619, Firenze, d. ca. 1688, Firenze)

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Details

Italian sculptor and scenographer, son of Pietro Tacca. He applied his artistic and engineering talents to a variety of projects. Trained as a sculptor, he also designed theaters, stage sets, machinery, and court spectacles. He received his first training from his father and in 1640 also assumed his father's position at the Medici court as sculptor to Ferdinand II, grand duke of Tuscany. As director of the sculpture workshop and foundry in Borgo Pinti, which he inherited from his father, Tacca produced large bronze equestrian monuments, figural groups, and smaller-scale works for the Medicis in the 1640s. He helped complete in 1640 the bronze Equestrian Statue of King Philip IV of Spain in Madrid. He created the Crucifix for the Cathedral of Prato and the Fontana di Bacchino, located in the city's main piazza. The fountain (1659-1665) depicts young Bacchus in bronze sitting around bunches of grapes. His bronze relief of the Martyrdom of St Stephen in San Stefano, Florence (1656), points back via Francavilla and Giambologna to the illusionism of Ghiberti's Porta del Paradiso. When Medici patronage of sculptural works declined around 1650, Tacca embarked on a second successful career as a stage designer and engineer. On the request of Cardinal Giovanni Carlo de' Medici, he presented a design for the first theatre in Florence. He also designed stage sets and theater machinery. His experience in the theatre led naturally to designing spectacles for the court, and in 1656 he was appointed the designer for Medici festivities and religious rites. A few years later, still enjoying Medici patronage, Tacca was appointed engineer of the Medici buildings and fortifications. //

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Category	Artists
Artists by letter	T
Artist nationality	Italian