De genius van Cosimo I de’ Medici (‘Genio Mediceo’)
This red wax statuette is the modello for a much larger fountain sculpture that was cast in bronze for Duke Cosimo I de’ Medici in Florence. The nude boy is a genius, a guardian spirit from classical antiquity, holding up a globe, symbolizing the earthly cosmos (‘cosmo’). Like the
Capricorn under his arm, signifying the duke’s astrological sign, it too alludes to Cosimo.