Whilst in the Netherlands, he "discovered" Antonis Mor and introduced him to the Madrid court, and he also patronised Giambologna and arranged his first visit to Italy.
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Most of these pieces are now in Vienna or Madrid, including Titian's Venus with an Organ-player, Giambologna's copy of the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, tapestries after cartoons by Hieronymus Bosch and a bust of Charles V by Leoni.
He is most known for the pose "Attitude" derived from the famous statue Mercury by Giovanni da Bologna.
From the Medici in Florence in 1601 came an over-lifesize marble of Samson and a Philistine by Giovanni da Bologna, presented as a diplomatic gift.
Ten years later, he was named a member (Accademico) of the prestigious Accademia delle Arti del Disegno, just founded by the Duke Cosimo I de' Medici, on 13 January 1563, under the influence of the painter-architect Giorgio Vasari, becoming also one of the Medici's most important court sculptors.
Giambologna's equestrian statue of Philip III dates to 1616, but it was not placed in the centre of the square until 1848.
The most important sculptor in the Southern Netherlands was Giambologna, who spent most of his career in Italy.
According to one explanation, the badge is referred to as "Jimmy" because the image of Mercury was based on the late mediaeval bronze statue by the Italian sculptor Giambologna, and shortening over time reduced the name Giambologna to "Jimmy".
The Mannerist structural elements of the marble and bronze Fountain of Neptune in Bologna, which is surmounted by Giambologna's Neptune, completed in 1566, were based on a 1563 drawing by Laureti.
After his death, Giambologna's assistant Pietro Tacca completed the statue, which was erected on its pedestal by Pietro Francavilla in 1618.
For Paris, by order of Marie de Medici he finished Giambologna's equestrian Henry IV (inaugurated August 23, 1613), which stood at the center of the Pont-Neuf but was destroyed in 1792 during the Revolution, then replaced with the present sculpture at the Restauration.
After his death, Giambologna's assistant Pietro Tacca completed the statue, which was erected on its pedestal by Pietro Francavilla, in 1618.