This extraordinarily rare group is most likely the only complete set of rock crystal altar candlesticks which has survived to the present day and should also be noted for its magnificent scale. Combining finely chased bronze with carved rock crystal, they are wondrous examples of Baroque inventiveness during the first decades of the 17th century and are imbued with the bustling creativity that flourished in Naples during those years. The chasing and design seem particularly close to the works of Orazio Scoppa, a Neapolitan silversmith who worked with Cosimo Fanzago; see, for example, the monumental gate of the Treasury Chapel of San Gennaro in 1632-35. The same cherub heads with a forelock of clustered curls that appear in this set can also be seen in a marble angel from Fanzago’s early period (D’Agostino, p.122).
More interestingly, in a set of 16 prints dated from the 1640s, Scoppa parades all his imaginative and rich ornamental repertoire, with multiple elements visible in the present lot and alongside the aforementioned protruding putti heads, there are also bulging swinging garlands, strapwork cartouches, all rooted in a solid architectural design. Four of these prints were later published in Vite dei Pittori, Scultori, ed Architetti Napolitani, by Bernardo de’ Dominici, considered the Vasari of Naples, in 1743 in a chapter dedicated to the silversmith (figs.1 and 2).
Comparable examples in bronze and rock crystal are rare, but the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has two pairs of different designs. One is catalogued as possibly from Naples (88.9cm; accession nr. 50.145.57/58 (fig.3)), and the second one, a gift from J. Pierpont Morgan, (67.3cm. high; accession nr 17.190.831 (fig.4)) as possibly Roman and linking it to the vocabulary of Stefano Maderno.
Nevertheless, both designs are close to many elements on Scoppa engravings – see for example the crown-shaped drip-pans. One pair, very similar to the second pair at the Met, was recently on the Parisian market (62cm. high). One much simpler rock crystal and bronze pair was sold from the Collection of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé (50cm. high; Christie’s Paris, 25 February 2009, lot 627, €265,000).
Always a prized material, admired for its physical splendour, and believed to be associated with magical, protective or curative properties, rock crystal, which is the common name for colourless translucent quartz, known today as hyaline quartz, was thought in classical antiquity to be ice that had hardened through intense freezing, and later associated with diamonds and frequently used in a jewellery context.
Its use in these impressive candlesticks, combined with gilt bronze, has a striking and wondrous result which certainly amazed those who viewed them in the 17th century, especially in a liturgical context. In the Christian tradition, the light passing through rock crystal was associated with the Immaculate Conception, and one can speculate whether these could have been made for an altar dedicated to Our Lady. From the mid-16th century onwards, Milan was a primary production center for incredibly sophisticated carved and engraved rock crystal objects. This rich tradition in the Spanish-controlled Duchy of Milan would travel easily to the vice-royalty of Naples, with well-known synergies in the artistic milieux of both territories leading to extraordinary objects such as these.
The energetic creativity of Naples in the early 17th century made it a sought-after origin for many commissions destined for churches and palaces back in Spain and it has been suggested that objects as rich as these would have been made for export (Allen, p.447).