This sculpture is unfinished but is intended to show the naval captain Andrea Doria as Neptune, a commission from the grateful city fathers of Genoa for his role in expelling the French in the city and reestablishing the republic under imperial protection. More
The portrayal of Doria as Neptune was again taken-up in a portrait by Bronzino in 1555. It seems there were two periods when Bandinelli worked on the piece in 1529 and in 1537-1538 before abandoning the project.
Boccardo, P. (1989). Andrea Doria e le arti: committenza e mecenatismo a Genova (Storia dell'arte). Rome.
Bush, V. (1976). The colossal sculpture of the cinquecento (Outstanding dissertations in the fine arts). New York NY.
Polleross, F. (2001). ‘Rector marium or Pater patriae?: The portraits of Andrea Doria as Neptune’, in L. Freedman and G. Huber-Rebenich (eds). Wege zum Mythos (Ikonographische Repertorien zur Rezeption des antiken Mythos in Europa 3). Berlin: 107-21.
Viatte, F., Bormand, M., Delieuvin, V., Goarin, V. (2011). Baccio Bandinelli: dessins, sculptures, peinture (Musée du Louvre, Cabinet des dessins. Inventaire général des dessins italiens 9). Paris.
