BOLOGNA, GIOVANNI DA (1524-1608) (Ital. for his real name, JEAN BOLOGNE or BOULLONGNE), Flemish sculptor, was born at Douai in 1524. He settled, in in Florence, where his best works still remain. The most celebrated are the single bronze figure of Mercury, poised on one foot, resting on the head of a zephyr, as if in the act of springing into the air (in the Bargello gallery), and the marble group known as the "Rape of the Sa bines," which was executed for Francesco de' Medici. It is now in the Loggia de Lanzi of the ducal piazza. Giovanni was also em ployed at Genoa, where he executed various excellent works, chiefly in bronze. His great fountain at Bologna (1563-66) is remarkable for beauty of proportion. Noteworthy also are his two fountains in the Boboli gardens, one completed in 1576 and the other in 1585. He also cast the fine bronze equestrian statue of Cosimo de' Medici at Florence and the very richly decorated west door of Pisa cathedral.
See La Vie et l' oeuvre de Jean Bologne, Par Abel Desjardins, d'apres les manuscrits recueillis par Foucques de Vagnonville (1883, numerous illustrations; list of works) .