GIOVANNI BONAZZA Fides and Decorum Padua, c. 1700/1710 Flanked during a whole century by two important plaster works of Antonio Canova, in the main Hall of Palazzo Papafava (formerly Palazzo Trento), this suggestive marble relief was created by the Venetian sculptor Giovanni Bonazza (1654–1736). It stands as summa of Venetian sculpture of early eighteenth century, […]
Notable Objects
MICHELE TOSINI Crucifixion Florence, c. 1565 This important and previously unknown altarpiece was commissioned by the illustrious Abess Maddalena Altoviti for the Convent of the Camaldoli in Luco di Mugello, near Florence. It’s execution in the mid-1500s, was due to Michele Tosini, called Michele di Ridolfo del Ghirlandaio, one of the main protagonists in Giorgio […]
Giovanni Angelo Del Maino Saint John the Evangelist c. 1508–1512 Saint John the Evangelist by Giovanni Angelo del Maino, a masterpiece of early sixteenth-century Italian sculpture, was originally part of a Lamentation on the dead Christ. The figure effortlessly dominates the surrounding space. It is wrapped in drapery articulated in folds which sustain without attenuating […]
Lorenzo Bartolini Ideal Head of Beatrice Portrait of Juliette Récamier as BeatriceRome, c.1823 The marble shown here is a vibrant and life-like Beatrice’s head, at first conceived as an idealized portrait of Juliette Récamier (1777–1849), of whom Antonio Canova had made a plaster model. One of the outstanding activities of Lorenzo Bartolini’s studio was the […]
Master of Guadalcanál Crucifix Genoa (?) c. 1650 This Cruxifix is the sixth known work by the Master of Guadalcanál, a sculptor closely connected with the flourishing of ivory sculpture in 17th-century Genoa.These ivory figures are among the most expressive renderings of Christ’s suffering on the Cross.While deeply moving and disquieting, these images of the […]
Benito Alonso da Vila Altar c. 1740–1750 This unpublished and elegant wooden Altar was probably conceived for a lady, intended for private devotion, as suggested by the precious and luxurious character combined with the shape and the size of the object. Referring to the Baroque tradition of Spanish Retablos, this work stands out for its […]