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Art Subject: Men
Mother Playing, Bronze and Wood Sculpture by Chaim Gross
By Chaim Gross
Located in Long Island City, NY
An abstract modern cubist rendition of a mother playing with her child by Chaim Gross (Austrian, 1904 - 1991). Chaim Gross is known for these playful works and similar works can be f...
Category
1970s Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
"Road Builder" 20th Century Modern WPA Labor Bronze WPA Depression-Era Sculpture
By Max Kalish
Located in New York, NY
Max Kalish
The Road Builder
inscribed M. KALISH 23, with Meroni-Radice foundry mark, on top of base bronze with dark brown patina, on an ebonized rectangular plinth
Height: 13 1/8 in. not including base
Provenance: Spanierman Gallery, New York
BIO
Max Kalish (1891 – 1945)
Born in Poland March 1, 1891, figurative sculptor Max Kalish came to the United States in 1894, his family settling in Ohio. A talented youth, Kalish enrolled at the Cleveland Institute of Art as a fifteen-year-old, receiving a first-place award for modeling the figure during studies with Herman Matzen. Kalish went to New York City following graduation, studying with Isidore Konti and Herbert Adams...
Category
1920s American Realist Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
Crouching Venus Grand Tour Bronze Patinated Sculpture F. Barbedienne Fondeur
Located in Rochester, NY
Grand tour bronze sculpture of the "Crouching Venus" after the antique. Fine patina. 19th century. Ferdinand Barbedienne (French, 1821-1902).
Category
19th Century Nude Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
Francois Toussaint "Dancing Indian" Bronze
Located in Astoria, NY
After Francois Christophe Armand Toussaint (French, 1806-1862) "Dancing Indian" Patinated Bronze Sculpture, circa 1880, cast by Graux-Marly Freres Foundry, on a circular base inscrib...
Category
1880s Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
Anahit Goddess Fertility Sculpture Clay Ceramic Handmade by Garo, One of a Kind
Located in Granada Hills, CA
Artist: (Garo) Karapet Balakeseryan
Medium: Clay Ceramic, One of a Kind
Year: 2025
Style: Classic Academism
Title: Anahit, Goddess of Fertility & Motherhood
Size: 12''x16''x7'' ...
Category
2010s Academic Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Clay, Ceramic
Attributed to Antonio Giorgetti, Nativity
Located in Milan, IT
Antonio Giorgetti (documented in Rome from 1657 to 1669)
Nativity, c. 1662
Wax, 56 x 12 cm
The wax, oval in shape and brown in color, features an iconography invented by Roman Ba...
Category
17th Century Other Art Style Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Wax
Chinese Qing dynasty figurative censer bronze 19th century
Located in Florence, IT
Oriental Chinese bronze statuette measuring 16, 5 x 16 cm depicting a sage riding a horse. Note the accuracy of the details, from the tassels on the harnesses to the under saddle wit...
Category
19th Century Qing Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
A pair of late 17th century Northern European carved oak angels
Located in Bath, Somerset
A pair of carved oak angels, circa 1700, with a lovely warm patina and faint traces of polychrome to the face and gilding to the body. The angels are both kn...
Category
17th Century Baroque Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Oak
El Doctor, Painted Bronze Sculpture by Bruno Luna
By Bruno Luna
Located in Long Island City, NY
Title: El Doctor
Year: circa 1990
Medium: Bronze Sculpture, signature and number inscribed
Edition: V/XXX
Size: 12.5 in. x 6 in. x 6 in. (31.75 cm x 15.24 cm x 15.24 cm)
Category
1990s Expressionist Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
Die Trinkende
Located in New York, NY
Victor Heinrich Seifert (1870 – 1953)
Die Trinkende, c. 1900
H 26.25 in. x W 8 in. x D 11.38 inch
Bronze with brown patina
Austrian artist Victor Heinrich Seifert is known for his ...
Category
Early 1900s Realist Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
"Pair of Ibo (Igbo) Ancestral Figures, " two Wooden Statues from Nigeria
Located in Milwaukee, WI
A pair of African carved wood and cloth ancestral figures from Nigeria. Meant to be sold as a pair, these ancestral figures are meant to convey the achievements of those they represe...
Category
1920s Tribal Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Wood
L'Hiver, Winter, Bronze Sculpture, Lost Wax Method , Romantic, Florence, Italy
Located in Houston, TX
L'Hiver, which is French for winter. An evocative title which pretty much explains the piece. Number 1 out of a production of Seven.
Artist Statement: I am very happy to announce that two of my bronze works are now available in a limited edition of 7. The first one, shown above, is my vision of Eros. He is more popularly known in the Roman interpretation of a chubby baby or young boy with an bow and arrow. I have always been more intrigued with the original Greek embodiment of the this deity as a young man. More than the god of love, Eros was a personification of the power of creation. He was balanced by his antithesis was Thanatos, that of destruction. In fact, Thanatos is currently in the design process. This work will exist in an edition of 7 and 2 artist's proofs. Each piece is hand chased by myself and I apply the patina as well.
The sculpture was created using the Lost Wax...
Category
2010s Romantic Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
Sidewalk Society Maquette, Limited Edition Sculpture
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Glenna Goodacre was commissioned to create the largescale bronze Sidewalk Society in Albuquerque Plaza, New Mexico. Her intention was for people to interact with her sculpture, and t...
Category
1990s Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Marble, Bronze
The Boxer
Located in Belfast, GB
The Boxer
Bronze
78 3/4 x 78 3/4 x 31 1/2 in
200 x 200 x 80 cm
Edition 1/1 (S)
This piece is entitled The Boxer. It is a large scale outdoor sculpture. The running bear is a common theme in his work as he is remembers his childhood teddy bear.
Patrick O’Reilly...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
Turquoise Swimmer - Contemporary Handmade Glazed Ceramics Sculpture , Portrait
Located in Salzburg, AT
The sculpture is signed below, inside
Tomasz Bielak born in Lublin in 1967. He graduated of The Academy of Fine Arts, Painting and Graphics Design Department in Gdańsk, in 1994....
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Ceramic
Eternal Reflection (Green)
Located in Hollywood, FL
Martin Whatson 'Eternal Reflection' (Green), 2016
Size: 11 4/5 × 8 7/10 × 9 4/5 in (30 × 22 × 25 cm)
Medium: Brass
Edition: of 10
Notes: Super Rare - Includes an Artist Issued COA.
Category
2010s Street Art Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Brass
ANCIENT RARE BRONZE FIGURE OF DIONYSOS (BACCHUS) ROMAN EMPIRE 1ST CENTURY AD
Located in Milan, IT
This bronze sculpture is an exquisitely detailed representation of the god Dionysos, whose cult was one of the most popular in ancient times. Here, the god is nude, with a mantle that gently lies on his right leg. He is holding a bunch of grapes with his left hand, and a rhyton (drinking horn) with the right. The god is youthful and joyfully gazes forwards, with a crown of ivy leaves set upon his long flowing hair.
These features clearly resemble those of the life-size Roman marble sculpture of Dionysos exhibited at the British Museum, acc. no. 1861,0725.2 .
This statuette was probably part of a larger composition and used as a decorative element applied to a piece of furniture. Its finely wrought details, as well as the attractive olive-green patina led to its inclusion in the collection of the Fitchburg Art Museum for thirty years.
PROVENANCE
English Private Collection (Sotheby’s, London 17-18 July 1985, Lot 204)
Royal Athena...
Category
15th Century and Earlier Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
Tiny Torso by Helle Crawford, Bronze sculpture of a woman's Torso
Located in DE
Even though Helle Rask Crawford often refers to classic myths in her sculptures, sh is not a classical sculptor in the neoclassical sense. Rather, Helle Crawford could be defined as ...
Category
2010s Nude Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
Richard Garbe - Helios - Early 20th Century British patinated plaster sculpture
Located in London, GB
RICHARD LOUIS GARBE, RA
(1876-1957)
Helios
Signed and dated 1929
Plaster with patinated surface
86 cm., 33 ¾ in. high
Garbe was born in Dalston, London, the son of Gustave Garbe,...
Category
Early 20th Century Art Deco Nude Sculptures
Materials
Plaster
Paul Joseph Gayrard "Daphnis and Chloe" Bronze
Located in Astoria, NY
Paul Joseph Raymond Gayrard (French, 1807-1855) "Daphnis and Chloe" Patinated Bronze Sculpture, cast by Vittoz Bronzier, Paris, late 19th century, the embracing figures seated on a r...
Category
Late 19th Century Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
Géraldine
By Patrick Brun
Located in Pasadena, CA
Patrick BRUN was born in Paris in 1941. After obtaining his Engineering degree, he began his professional life as a teacher in mathematics and physics. After this period, he started ...
Category
2010s Post-Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
Figura Seduta
Located in Miami, FL
Franco Mauro Franchi was born in Castiglioncello (Livorno) on 9 October 1951.
He completed his artistic studies at the Lucca State Institute of Art and the Academy of Fine Arts in Fl...
Category
20th Century Contemporary Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
Persian Contemporary Art by Aziz Anzabi - Mars Unknown Dream 3
Located in Paris, IDF
Bronze sculpture
Aziz Anzabi is a British artist with Iranian origins born in 1970 who lives & works in London, UK. He exhibits many artworks in the U.S, the Netherlands, and Iran....
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
Hebru Brantley Gaia (Hebru Brantley Lil Mama as Gaia Black & Gold)
Located in NEW YORK, NY
Hebru Brantley GAIA (Hebru Brantley Lil Mama as Gaia):
Hebru Brantley’s ethereal art toy features his much iconic, Lil Mama character as Gaia, the fabled personification of Mother E...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Vinyl
Magnificent Patinated Bronze Sculpture of Cupid and Psyche by Bouguereau
Located in New York, NY
WILLIAM-ADOLPHE BOUGUEREAU (French, 1825-1905)
Signed ‘W. Bouguereau & A. Itasse’
Circa 1887
30 in. x 14 in. x 13 1/2 in.
Notes:
A magnificent French patinated bronze sculpture of cupid and psyche is entitled "L' Amour Vainqueur". The bronze is mounted upon a revolving rouge marble plinth adorned with bronze decorations & an enamel face key wind clock...
Category
19th Century Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
Girardon’s Equestrian Portrait of Louis XIV
Located in New Orleans, LA
King Louis XIV, one of France's greatest monarchs, sits confidently astride a prancing steed in this bronze equestrian statue. The extraordinary work is a reduction of the portrait of the Sun King by François Girardon, one of the most noted and influential sculptors of the period. Looking back to the great masterpieces of antiquity, Girardon took his inspiration from the seminal ancient Roman marble of Marcus Aurelius, now in the Musei Capitoline (Rome). Louis XIV is thus portrayed here as a conquering Roman hero, his costume adorned with many neoclassical motifs, hand outstretched in a gesture of command. The result is an imposing royal portrait of power and absolute authority that pays homage to one of the most important sovereigns in French history.
It was in 1685, at the very height of his rule, when Louis XIV commissioned the monumental bronze of himself from the great Girardon. As sculptor to the king, Girardon was a key figure in the decoration of the gardens at the Château de Versailles, and he was later commissioned to complete several important royal...
Category
19th Century Other Art Style Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
"Le Rieur Napolitain" by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (1827–1875)
Located in Edinburgh, GB
A stunning bronze bust "Le Rieur Napolitain" by Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (1827–1875), a master of 19th-century French sculpture. This piece captures the joyful expression of a young Neapolitan boy, reflecting Carpeaux’s signature realism and dynamic movement.
Details:
Artist: Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux
Title: Le Rieur Napolitain (The Laughing Neapolitan)
Material: Bronze
Dimensions: Height 27 cm, Width 19 cm, Depth 12 cm
Period: 19th century
Condition: Good, with a beautiful natural patina
Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (1827–1875) was a leading French sculptor of the 19th century, known for his ability to infuse lifelike movement and emotional depth into his works. Le Rieur Napolitain (The Laughing Neapolitan) is a striking example of his dynamic and expressive style, embodying his fascination with naturalism and human vitality.
This bust is part of Carpeaux’s series of Neapolitan figures...
Category
Mid-19th Century Realist Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
Henri Honoré Plé Bronze Sculpture, Late 19th Century
Located in Astoria, NY
Henri Honore Ple (French, 1853-1922) "La Nymphe" Patinated Bronze Sculpture, late 19th century, the draped standing figure with outstretched arms resting on a tree, signed to base "H...
Category
Late 19th Century Art Nouveau Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
Forward Still, 80" tall bronze
Located in Loveland, CO
Forward Still by JaneDeDecker
Abstract Figurative Sculpture ©2015
80x54x10" limited edition of 21
A contemplative person walks on the top of a large ring
ABOUT THE ARTIST: 'Part of...
Category
2010s Impressionist Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
Homage à Kahnweiler / - The Appearance of Genius-
Located in Berlin, DE
Irmgard Biernath (1905 Waldheim in Saxony - 1998 Mainz), Hommage à Kahnweiler, 1984. Terracotta relief, burnished red body, 43.5 x 38 cm, mounted on support plate, in wooden frame 57 x 49.5 cm, monogrammed "IB" at lower right.
- Isolated patina losses, but overall good condition, frame slightly bumped.
- The Appearance of Genius-
This homage to Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler shows the gallerist and art theorist as Pablo Picasso portrayed him in his lithographic portrait of 1957.
As an innovative Parisian gallery owner, Kahnweiler had exclusively represented Picasso since 1911, while Picasso had painted his famous portrait of Kahnweiler the previous year as a major work of Cubism. And it is Picasso who appears at the centre of Irmgard Biernath's image. Here, his face echoes the features of the self-portrait he painted in 1907 in the Prague National Gallery.
His eyes are wide open as he gazes into the distance, surrounded by the works of his artistic vision that have already taken shape. On the right is the bronze "Man with Sheep...
Category
1980s Contemporary Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Terracotta
Standing Together, 42" high bronze
Located in Loveland, CO
Standing Together by Jane DeDecker
Figurative Bronze. 42x24x24"
Sandstone base is included.
Two Girls stand back to back holding hands Sisters, or Best Friends. A union for life.
A...
Category
2010s Impressionist Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Sandstone, Bronze
AFRICAN BRONZE AND HORN BAMILEKE SCULPTURE
Located in Three Oaks, MI
A beautiful African cast bronze and carved horn sculpture with a patina. Horns were used by the Bamileke tribe of Cameroon as status symbols for ...
Category
1960s Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
Fotografo II, bronze and stainless figurative sculpture
By Aurora Canero
Located in Miami, FL
Sculpture, bronze and stainless, figurative Edition of 6
Measurement includes stainless base and bronze sculpture
Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
Adrien Étienne Gaudez A patinated bronze group "Duo Difficile"
Located in New York, NY
This exquisite patinated bronze group, "Duo Difficile," is the work of French sculptor Adrien Étienne Gaudez (1845-1902). Circa 1880, the sculpture showcases Gaudez's exceptional abi...
Category
1880s Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
Il Grande Freddo Italy Cast Bronze Man Figurine Sculpture by Aron Demetz
By Aron Demetz
Located in Brescia, IT
This intense bronze sculpture was made by the well known Italian artist, Aron Demetz, in 2004, Italy.
This is a lost wax bronze hand painted. The title is "Il grande freddo" translat...
Category
Late 20th Century Post-Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
"A Secret" bronze sculpture of a rounded figure whispering to another
By Monica Wyatt
Located in Edgartown, MA
I first realized my love for visual storytelling when I began producing and directing television shows. Starting with the writer’s script, my palette was everything seen through the ...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
Nehemiah 2
Located in Pasadena, CA
Provenance
Acquired by the gallery directly from the artist
Description
Slatoff’s sculpture is a biblical reference to the central figure in the book of Nehemiah, which describes a ...
Category
Early 2000s Realist Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
Mary
Located in Villafranca Di Verona, IT
Numbered and limited to 8 copies
Artwork signed
Authenticity: Sold with certificate of Authenticity
Invoice from the gallery
Sculpture: bronze, metal, bronze patina
Display: The s...
Category
1970s Nude Sculptures
Materials
Metal, Bronze
Family Carved Sculpture American Scene Modernism Mid 20th Century WPA Realism
Located in New York, NY
Family Carved Sculpture American Scene Modernism Mid 20th Century WPA Realism
Milton Hebald (American, 1917-2015),
Family of Three
13 1/2 x 5 1/4 x 4 1/4 inches
Carved wood, c. 19...
Category
1940s American Realist Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Wood
Goethe / - Goethe's Will -
Located in Berlin, DE
Hans Harders (1875 Mörel - 1955 Berlin), Goethe (bookend). Patinated brass mounted on a wooden base, 15 x 12 x 6 cm (depiction), 17 x 14.5 x 7 cm (with ba...
Category
1930s Art Deco Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Brass
White Carrara Marble Sculpture of Hercules Italian 20th Century
Located in Roma, IT
an important and impressive white marble sculpture of Hercules as torso. The figure standing in contrapposto position wearing on the left shoulder a rest of a drapery with a sculpted...
Category
20th Century Other Art Style Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Marble
"Ex Nihilo Fragment 6", Frederick Hart, Figurative Bronze Sculpture, 39X23X12 in
Located in Dallas, TX
"Ex Nihilo Fragment 6" by Frederick Hart is a figurative bronze with the edition of 55/65. Ex Nihilo Fragment No. 6, detail from the full-scale plaster for the final stone sculpture of Ex Nihilo, was commissioned as part of The Creation Sculptures at Washington National Cathedral...
Category
Early 2000s Realist Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
Woman Seated A Bronze Sculpture of a Woman by Charles Rumsey
Located in Brookville, NY
The bronze sculpture of a woman by Charles Rumsey is undated, but was created at a point in his career where he began to transition from realism to more modern, looser depictions of ...
Category
1920s American Modern Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
The Scout
By Carl Kauba
Located in New York, NY
CARL KAUBA
Austrian, (1865-1922)
The Scout
Patinated bronze; Signed ‘C. Kauba’
30 1/4 x 13 1/2 inches
Category
Early 20th Century Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
"Warming Up"
By Victor Manuel Villarreal
Located in Southampton, NY
Bronze ballet dancer by Mexican artist Victor Manuel Villarreal, circa 1985. Signed at base. Condition is excellent. Provenance: Sarasota, Flori...
Category
1980s Contemporary Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
American Contemporary Book Sculpture by Alexander Korzer-Robinson - The Quiver 2
Located in Paris, IDF
Book Sculpture, signed Alexander Korzer-Robinson, The Quiver, 1892
Robert Robinson is an American artist born in 1960 who lives and works in London, UK. He creates 3-D media artwor...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Paper
Enthroned Madonna and Child.
Located in PARIS, FR
Large Virgin and Child in carved wood, carved back. Sitting on a throne bench, Mary carries Christ seated on her left knee. The Virgin has a face with stylized features with semicircular eyebrow arches, almond-shaped eyes with protruding eyeballs. Marie is wearing a belted dress with a simple neckline and a coat with a flap that goes back to the front. Tiny traces of polychromy.
Romanesque influences are still present. With her protruding eyes, she can also be compared to the statuary of Lake Constance. Our Virgin, rare for its size, nevertheless presents strong analogies with the Italian Sedes Sapientiae...
Category
15th Century and Earlier Medieval Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Wood
Victor Salmones “Nude Juggler” Bronze Sculpture, 21"H
Located in Lake Worth Beach, FL
Artist/Designer; Manufacturer: Victor Salmones (Mexican, 1937-1989)
Marking(s); notes: signed, marking(s); Artist Proof
Materials: bronze, stone (base)
Dimensions (H, W, D): 21"h, 12...
Category
20th Century Contemporary Nude Sculptures
Materials
Marble, Bronze
Sculpture Terracotta Female Nude From Marcel Bouraine (1886-1948)
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Sculpture Terracotta From Marcel Bouraine (1886-1948)"
Original terra cotta sculpture of Marcel Bouraine
Naïade of the 1930's Signed Bouraine
On the ...
Category
1930s Academic Nude Sculptures
Materials
Terracotta
Cigale
Located in PARIS, FR
Cigale (Cicada)
by Albert-Ernest CARRIER-BELLEUSE (1824-1887)
Bronze sculpture with nuanced dark brown patina
signed "A. Carrier-Belleuse"
old edition cast
France
circa 1870
heigh...
Category
1870s French School Nude Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
Theseus and the Minotaur
Located in PARIS, FR
Theseus and the Minotaur
by Baltasar LOBO (1910-1993)
A bronze group with a greenish dark brown patina
Signed at the lower backside " Lobo "
Cast by " Susse Fondeur Paris " (with th...
Category
1970s French School Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
Donnina in Piedi Bronze Sculpture Standing Woman
By KOBE
Located in Utrecht, NL
Donnina in Piedi Bronze Sculpture Standing Woman
KOBE, pseudonym of Jacques Saelens, was a Belgian artist (Kortrijk, Belgium 1950 – Sa...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
Nude Bare Back
By Aelle
Located in Pasadena, CA
Lost wax bronze 3/8. founder Paumelle. French artist, born in 1954 in Versailles. Lives and works in Paris but also in Lozère (in the south of France) where, as soon as she can, she ...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
"Existence" Bronze sculpture 35" x 22" x 15" inch Edition 4/8 by Huang Yulong
By Huang Yulong
Located in Culver City, CA
"Existence" Bronze sculpture 35" x 22" x 15" inch Edition 4/8 by Huang Yulong
35 2/5 × 21 7/10 × 15 in
90 × 55 × 38 cm
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Huang Yulong was born in 1983 in Anhui Prov...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
Standing Chief (Shield) by Yoram Wolberger, 2016
Located in Orange, CA
Standing Chief (Shield) by Yoram Wolberger, 2016
Additional information:
Medium: Reinforced cast fiberglass composite and pigmented resin
Dimensions: 84 × 65 × 29 in (213.4 × 165.1...
Category
21st Century and Contemporary Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Fiberglass, Pigment, Resin
Arcturus
Located in Boston, MA
Donald De Lue, American (1897-1988), Arcturus, 1980. Renaissance Brown patina. Number 5 of an edition of 12. Signed and inscribed left side of back of base: "De Lue sc. © 80 / 1987...
Category
1980s Art Deco Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
"Throughline" Black bas-relief wall hanging sculpture featuring male profile
Located in Philadelphia, PA
"Throughline" is an original piece by Jedediah Morfit made from sculpted plaster and covering in black paint featuring a portrait of a young man with abstracted motion in low relief,...
Category
2010s Contemporary Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Plaster, Acrylic
Roman 18th century terracotta model for the sculpture of San Camillo de Lellis
Located in London, GB
This remarkably fluid terracotta bozetto was made in preparation for Pietro Pacilli’s most important public commission, a large-scale marble statue of San Camillo de Lellis for the nave of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Expressively modelled, this terracotta sculpture is a rare and significant work made by a major Roman sculptor at a transformative moment of European sculpture. Pacilli began his working life on the great Baroque decorative projects initiated in the seventeenth century, but he found success as a restorer of ancient sculpture working to finish antiquities for a tourist market, becoming an important figure in the emergence of an archaeologically minded Neoclassicism. Pacilli trained Vincenzo Pacetti and provided important decorative work for the Museo Pio-Clementino, at the same time he is recorded restoring some of the most celebrated antiquities excavated and exported during the period.
Pacilli was born into a family of Roman craftsmen, his father Carlo was a wood carver, and Pacilli is recorded working with him on the Corsini Chapel in San Giovanni Laternao as early as 1735. In 1738 his terracotta model of Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife won the first prize in the second class of the sculpture concorso at the Accademia di San Luca, this is particularly notable as Bartolomeo Cavaceppi came third. He worked as a carver and stuccoist completing works for the churches of San Marco and SS. Trinita dei Domeniciani Spagnoli. Pacilli operated as a sculptor and restorer of antiquities from his studio at the top of the Spanish Steps, close to Santa Trinita dei Monti, where he is listed as a potential vendor to the Museo Pio-Clementino in 1770.
In 1763 Pacilli completed a silver figure of San Venanzio for the treasury of San Venanzio. He is recorded as Pacetti’s first master and it was evidently through Pacilli that he began to acquire his facility as a restorer of ancient sculpture. Pacilli, at his studio ‘poco prima dell’Arco della Regina alla Trinita dei Monti,’ exercised, what the nineteenth-century scholar, Adolf Michaelis called ‘rejuvenating arts’ on several important pieces of classical sculpture, including in 1760 the group of a Satyr with a Flute for the natural brother of George III, General Wallmoden, Hanovarian minister at Vienna. In 1765, Dallaway and Michaelis record that Pacilli was responsible for the restorations, including the addition of a new head, to the Barberini Venus which he had acquired from Gavin Hamilton. The Venus was then sold to Thomas Jenkins, who in turn passed it on to William Weddell at Newby Hall. In 1767 Pacilli exported a series of ancient busts ‘al naturale’ including portraits of Antinous, Julius Ceaser and Marus Aurelius, also a statue of a Muse and a Venus. As early as 1756 Pacilli seems to have been operating as an antiquarian, helping to disperse the collection of the Villa Borrioni. Pacilli supplied sculpture to notable British collectors, including Charles Townley, who on his first trip to Italy purchased the Palazzo Giustiniani statue of Hecate from Pacilli. Pacilli was involved with the Museo Pio Clementino from its conception, supplying busts of Julius Ceaser and a Roman Woman as well as completing stucco putti surmounting the arms of Pope Bendedict XIV to signal the entrance to the new Museo Critiano.
In 1750 Il Diario Ordinario del Chracas announced that Pacilli had begun work on a sculpture of San Camillo de Lellis for St Peter’s. Camillo de Lellis founded his congregation, the Camillians, with their distinctive red felt crosses stitched on black habits in 1591. Having served as a soldier in the Venetian army, Camillo de Lellis became a novitiate of the Capuchin friars, he moved to Rome and established a religious community for the purpose of caring for the sick. In 1586 Pope Sixtus V formerly recognised the Camillians and assigned them to the Church of Santa Maria Maddalena in Rome. Camillo de Lellis died in 1614 and was entombed at Santa Maria Maddalena, he was canonised by Benedict XIV on June 26, 1746. It was an occasion that prompted the Camillians to make a number of significant artistic commissions, including two canvases by Pierre Subleyras showing episodes from San Camillo’s life which they presented to Benedict XIV. In 1750 Pacilli was commissioned to fill one of the large niches on the north wall of the nave with a sculpture of San Camillo.
The present terracotta bozetto presumably had two important functions, to enable Pacilli to work out his ideas for the finished sculpture and at the same time to show his design to the various commissioning bodies. In this case it would have been Cardinal Alessandro Albani and Monsignor Giovan Francesco Olivieri, the ‘economo’ or treasurer of the fabric of St Peter’s. Previously unrecorded, this terracotta relates to a smaller, less finished model which has recently been identified as being Pacilli’s first idea for his statue of San Camillo. Preserved in Palazzo Venezia, in Rome, the terracotta shows San Camillo with his left hand clutching his vestments to his breast; the pose and action more deliberate and contained than the finished sculpture. In producing the present terracotta Pacilli has expanded and energised the figure. San Camillo is shown with his left hand extended, his head turned to the right, apparently in an attempt to look east down the nave of St Peter’s. The model shows Pacilli experimenting with San Camillo’s costume; prominently on his breast is the red cross of his order, whilst a sense of animation is injected into the figure through the billowing cloak which is pulled across the saint’s projecting right leg. The power of the restrained, axial contrapposto of bent right leg and outstretched left arm, is diminished in the final sculpture where a baroque fussiness is introduced to the drapery. What Pacilli’s terracotta demonstrates, is that he conceived the figure of San Camillo very much in line with the immediate tradition of depicting single figures in St Peter’s; the rhetorical gesture of dynamic saint, arm outstretched, book in hand, head pointed upwards was perhaps borrowed from Camillo Rusconi’s 1733 sculpture of St. Ignatius...
Category
18th Century Baroque Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Terracotta