Attributed to Giuseppe Maria Mazza (1653-1741) Italian, Bologna, circa 1700

Mr. Ceschi, Bologna, before 1935;
Giorgio Agostini, Bologna, by 1965;
private collection, Italy

Bologna, Mostra del Settecento bolognese, 1935, no. 152
Bologna, Museo Civico, Mostra del scultura bolognese del Settecento, 1965-1966, no. 12

E. Riccòmini, Mostra del scultura bolognese del Settecento, exh. cat. Museo Civico, Bologna, 1965, p. 59, no. 12

The condition of the terracotta is very good with minor dirt and wear to the surface consistent with age. There are some small losses to the edges of the drapery and to the headdress. Three of Christ's proper left fingers and his proper left thumb have been reattached. It is possible that there could be some further restoration to his proper left wrist and forearm. Christ's head has been reattached. There are traces of original polychromy, including blue pigment to the mantel and red pigment to the shirt. There is a patch of dark lacquer or paint to the proper left side of the Virgin's face. There are some gesso residues in some of the crevices, including to the Virgin's mouth. There is particular dirt to the lacunae behind the Virgin's proper left hand. There is a hole in the back of the Virgin's neck. There are some later white residues at the back of the sculpture towards the bottom. There are also a few very minor stable firing cracks.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This beautiful terracotta Madonna and Child is one of the most important works by Giuseppe Mazza to have been offered on the market in recent years. Exhibited at the Museo Civico, Bologna, and attributed to Mazza by Riccòmini in 1965, it epitomises the elegant Bolognese classicism for which the Bolognese sculptor is celebrated. The Virgin, with her idealised facial features and hair tied behind her head, is indebted to the work of Alessandro Algardi, tutor to Mazza's father, Camillo. The Infant Christ, who presses one hand to His mother's chest, whilst reaching out to the worshipper with the other, recalls Algardi's figure from the Altar of St Nicholas of Tolentino, Rome (Montagu, op. cit., fig. 137). The long bridge of the Virgin's nose and the diminutive mouths are characteristic of Mazza.

Giuseppe Maria Mazza initially trained as a painter under Domenico Maria Canuti and Giovanni Gioseffo del Sole. He appears to have made the transition to sculpture under the latter's tutelage, and, in circa 1670, moved to Venice for a year where he burnished his reputation as a stucco worker. The arrival of John Adam Andreas, Prince of Liechtenstein, in Bologna in 1692 marked an important turning point in the sculptor's career as he was asked to complete a number of over life-size marble busts, which remain in the Princely Collections, Vaduz. Mazza established his reputation as the foremost Bolognese sculptor of his generation with his now destroyed Madonna of the Mystery of the Rosary for Bologna's church of Corpus Domini (1693). His greatest works are the series of bronze reliefs illustration the life of the Bolognese St Dominic for the church of SS Giovanni e Paolo, Venice (circa 1717-1720), which exhibit the sculptor's characteristic classicising, tempered, late Baroque style.

RELATED LITERATURE
J. Montagu, Alessandro Algardi, New Haven and Yale, 1985, vol. ii, fig. 137