Tacca, Pietro

Tacca, Pietro (bapt. Carrara, 6 Sept. 1577; d nr. Florence, 26 Oct. 1640).
Florentine sculptor, mainly in bronze, the chief pupil and follower of Giambologna. After his master's death in 1608 Tacca completed a number of his works and succeeded him as sculptor to the Medici grand dukes of Tuscany. His work for them included his masterpieces, the four Slaves (c.1615–24) at the foot of Bandinelli's statue of Ferdinand I de' Medici in Livorno (Leghorn). His last major project was an equestrian statue (1634–40) of Philip IV of Spain (see Habsburg) for the garden of the Buen Retiro Palace in Madrid (it is now in the Plaza de Oriente). The king—by his own wish—is shown on a rearing horse, an unprecented technical feat of bronze casting on this scale (Tacca had scientific advice from Galileo). The Baroque pose had already been used in pictures of Philip by Rubens and Velázquez (a copy of a painting by one or the other of these artists was sent to Florence to act as a model), but the smooth, generalized treatment of the work shows that Tacca remained essentially a Mannerist sculptor. In addition to his large works, he produced numerous graceful bronze statuettes, continuing the tradition of Giambologna. His son Ferdinando Tacca (1619–86) was a sculptor and stage designer.