Youth Drawing Thorn from his Foot

Renaissance patrons sought objects for their homes that both embodied their culture and refinement and served as sources of delectation and contemplation. Often made in imitation of classical sculpture, either as reduced copies of known sculptures or invented subjects produced all'antica (in the style of antiquity), small bronzes contributed to the spread of classical taste in the 15th and 16th centuries. A collector would likely have kept such statuettes in a private study along with books and other objects of fascination, such as scientific instruments or natural specimens.