Johan Creten's collection of historical bronzes statuettes

This "study collection" was born from Johan Creten's fascination with small bronzes. The first acquisitions were antique bronzes and/or bronzes from the Grand Tour. These were souvenirs that the artist brought back from his travels. From then on, Johan Creten deepened his research on bronzes, first on Renaissance bronzes, then on Baroque bronzes, in particular Venetian bronzes. They attract by their rough and rustic aspect, their violent and uneven casting and their patina which reminds that of paintings. The collection includes works by Campagna, Aspetti, and Roccatagliatta, as well as bronzes by exceptional figures such as Francesco Fanelli (1576-1661), an Italian sculptor who ended up in England and who seems to have single-handedly invented the concept of the bronze mantel. Johan Creten's collection includes 11 bronzes by this artist with an atypical personality.

(for Cyril Connolly)

The piers are pummelled by the waves; In a lonely field the rain
Lashes an abandoned train;
Outlaws fill the mountain caves.

Fantastic grow the evening gowns; Agents of the Fisc pursue Absconding tax-defaulters through The sewers of provincial towns.

Private rites of magic send
The temple prostitutes to sleep; All the literati keep
An imaginary friend.

Cerebrotonic Cato may
Extol the Ancient Disciplines, But the muscle-bound Marines Mutiny for food and pay.

Caesar's double-bed is warm
As an unimportant clerk
Writes I DO NOT LIKE MY WORK On a pink official form.

Unendowed with wealth or pity, Little birds with scarlet legs, Sitting on their speckled eggs, Eye each flu-infected city.

Altogether elsewhere, vast Herds of reindeer move across Miles and miles of golden moss, Silently and very fast.

"The Fall of Rome" - W. H. Auden - 1907-1973