Tickets
English
DonateMembershipTickets

Two turkeys

late 16th–early 17th century
Not on view
Modeled from memory, not life, and virtually identically cast, with their wattles wobbling in the same direction, the birds were conceived as reliefs. One’s fingers fit rather comfortably in the spaces between feet and volutes. They probably served as door pulls, perhaps even in a private aviary. The turkey, craved by the masses, became a status symbol, perhaps especially so in Venice: a sumptuary law of 1557 banned its meat from all tables but those of patricians. The subject alone recalls Giambologna’s gloriously plumed Turkey in the Bargello, Florence, said to have been a portrait of grand duke Cosimo’s favorite fowl. But the dark, glinting, painterly surfaces of the Met pair are ultra-Venetian.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Two turkeys
  • Date: late 16th–early 17th century
  • Culture: Italian, Venice
  • Medium: Bronze with black painted patina
  • Dimensions: Overall (each, confirmed): 5 3/4 × 3 1/2 × 2 3/4 in. (14.6 × 8.9 × 7 cm)
  • Classification: Sculpture-Bronze
  • Credit Line: Promised Gift of Alexis Gregory, 2004
  • Object Number: 2004.562.1, .2
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

More Artwork

More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Virginal, Wood, parchment, ivory, paint, Italian
Virginal
Italian
1540
Sprite, Donatello Italian, High-copper alloy, fire-gilt, brown natural patina where exposed, Italian, Florence
Sprite
Sculptor/metalsmith close to Donatello
1432
Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, Francesco Colonna Italian, Printed book with woodcut illustrations
Hypnerotomachia Poliphili
Multiple artists/makers
December 1499
The Weeping Burgher (Andrieu d'Andres), Auguste Rodin French, Bronze, green patina, French
The Weeping Burgher (Andrieu d'Andres)
Auguste Rodin
modeled 1885, cast ca. 1908–9
Falchion, Steel, gold, textile, Italian, Venice
Falchion
Italian, Venice
ca. 1490

Related Content

Publications

Books, guides, and catalogues published by The Met.

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please contact us using the form below. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.

Send feedback

Content Notice

The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world, and our online collection reflects ongoing work conducted over the course of our more than 150-year history. You may encounter objects or images that may be inappropriate for some viewers or information that may be outdated.