The Goddess Ops

In the precious Medici casket, Ops, symbol of the Earth that yields fruits, is related to Pluto, god of wealth, again according to Borghini's theories: “nature has as the subject of its operations and effects the four elements, of which two are as the body, namely earth and water; the other two serve as efficient causes, namely air and much more fire...”. The statuette was modelled in the years that saw the completion of the fountain in the piazza (1572-75). The relationship with the niche behind it is perfectly calculated, so that the slightly enveloping movement of the profiles, to which every expressive aim is entrusted, is enhanced to the utmost; in the smooth grace of the goddess's tapering limbs, from which Mannerist abstraction does not entirely remove the flavour of a fresh naturalism, Ammannati shows himself not unmindful of the exquisite finesse of the small bronzes adorning the pedestal of Cellini's Perseus.