A Volpato biscuit porcelain group of four putti with a goat, circa 1786-1800

An identical biscuit group, forming part of the dessert (centrepiece) series by Giovanni Volpato, circa 1786–1800, is today preserved in the Museo Civico of Bassano del Grappa (Honour and Melegati, 2003, no. 17). The subject is modelled after Victory of Sacred Love over Profane Love, by François Duquesnoy (1594–1643), from the Spada Collection in Rome (Lingo, 2007, figs. 37, 39, 40). The pendant group in biscuit, also in Bassano, was offered at Sotheby’s Paris, 9 November 2012, lot 98.

Related Literature

F. Mazzocca, Il Neoclassicismo da Tiepolo a Canova, exhibition catalogue, Milan, 2002, p. 369, no.XIV 1a;

E. Lingo, François Duquesnoy, New Haven, 2007, figs. 37, 39-40;

H. Honour, L. Melegati, I trionfi di Volpato, exhibition catalogue, Milan, 2003, p. 264, cat. no. 17.