Spring

Why it matters

Although most 18th-century European porcelain factories produced three-dimensional works, these were often small figures intended to ornament dinner tables or mantelpieces. The factory at Doccia outside Florence was more ambitious, turning to baroque sculptors of the great local tradition to supply models for works in porcelain. In 1743 the factory purchased from the heirs of the famous Florentine sculptor Massimiliano Soldani (1656-1740) a number of that artist's models. Included were models for a series of reliefs representing the four seasons that were created by Soldani in 1708 for Ferdinando de' Medici. One of the reliefs was Spring, or The Realm of Flora, which was then executed in porcelain.