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The Venus Marina is one of the few works of Giovanni Bologna which has not suffered by over-reproduction, in fact, no record apparently exists, with the exception of the statue here illustrated, that any replicas of the Vecchio figure were ever attempted in bronze, and it is quite possible that only these two remain in existence. A slight difference in the ornamentation of the hair of these figures adds only to the charm of complete originality. This distinction is shown in Dr. Bode's "Bronze Statuettes of the Renaissance," Plate CLXXXV, and Desjardin's "Jean Bologne," Plate II. . . . . . . . The opulent Francesco de' Medici (1541-1587), second Grand Duke of Tuscany, strove from the time of his accession to power in 1574, to emulate his glorious ancestors, and to make his court a centre of attraction for the most distinguished men in art and literature, and he well sustained the fame of the House of Medici as protectors of art and letters. One of his first cares was to beautify his palace, which passed from the hands of the Pitti Family into those of the Medici. For this purpose he encouraged the rising artists of his time, especially Giovanni Bologna, who executed for him a whole series of bronze statuettes of male and female figures, and also the group of the "Rape of Sabines." Besides the other additions made by Francesco to the art collections of the Palazzo Pitti, one is particularly associated with the history of his life : the statue of his Archduchess Johanna of Austria, also made by Giovanni Bologna, which now stands