After his death, Giambologna's assistant Pietro Tacca completed the statue, which was erected on its pedestal by Pietro Francavilla in 1618.
However, its equestrian statue of the king dates to the 17th century and was produced by the Italian sculptor Pietro Tacca using scientific advice from Galileo Galilei and drawings by Diego Velázquez and a bust by Juan Martínez Montañés (who also collaborated on the work).
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.
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The daring stability of the statue was calculated by Galileo Galilei: the horse rears, and the entire weight of the sculpture balances on the two rear legs—and, discreetly, its tail— a feat that had never been attempted in a figure on a heroic scale, of which Leonardo had dreamed.
After his death, Giambologna's assistant Pietro Tacca completed the statue, which was erected on its pedestal by Pietro Francavilla, in 1618.
Pietro Mascagni | Pietro Bembo | Pietro da Cortona | Ponte San Pietro | The Battle of San Pietro | Pietro Tacca | Pietro Perugino | Pietro Canonica | Pietro Annigoni | San Pietro in Casale | Pietro Tenerani | Pietro Tagliavia | Pietro Frua | Pietro Consagra | San Pietro in Ciel d'Oro | Pietro Verri | Pietro Scalia | Pietro Lombardi | Pietro Gori | Pietro Delitala | Pietro de' Crescenzi | Pietro Badoglio | Pietro Paolo Cristofari | Pietro Nobile | Pietro Musumeci | Pietro IV Candiano | Pietro Garinei | Pietro Della Valle | Pietro Cascella | Pietro Aretino |
The trip was to make a clay bust of Philip IV of Spain as the modello for the Florentine sculptor Pietro Tacca's bronze equestrian statue of Philip (the statue now on plaza de Oriente in Madrid), which is what he is shown doing in the portrait, shaping the clay with a stick (though the bust itself is only in outline, since the painting is unfinished).