Bartolomeo Pinelli Italian, 1781 - 1835 Rome, 1829

Overall condition good. Exhibits wear, chips and losses commensurate with age. Chips to proper left side of base. Firing cracks throughout. Repair to proper right corner of base and right foot of brigand figure. The brigand is missing his knife.
"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."

Bartolomeo Pinelli was primarily known as an engraver. He created illustrations for works by Virgil, Dante and Cervantes as well as publishing books of costume. His father modelled crib figures in Trastevere for a living and Pinelli would have learnt his first terracotta modelling techniques in his father's workshop. He went on to study at Rome's Academia di San Luca and the Accademia Clementina in Florence, returning to his native Rome in 1800. He was a contemporary of Thorvaldsen, who collected his drawings.

Proud of his own peasant origins, Pinelli revelled in depicting the customs, costumes and stories of the people of Rome and the surrounding Lazio region. Chief amongst the folklore of the region were the tales of briganti, or brigands, who were the lawless scourge of the hills outside Rome. The present terracotta group depicts a brigand who has just stabbed the fainting woman, who has her hand clasped to the wound. Her feisty companion attempts to apprehend the brigand, catching hold of his cloak. The missing knife in the hand held behind the brigand's back would no doubt have finished the tale. Despite their villany, briganti were seen as Romantic heroes and symbols of political resistance. Pinelli modelled a comparable group of the notorious brigand Bizzaro, illustrated in Playing with Fire. He did a series of illustrations of episodes from Bizzaro's life as well as the lives of two other briganti, Gasparone and Massaroni. The present terracotta surely depicts one of these episodes.

Pinelli would finish the surface of his terracottas in the wet clay immediately before firing, thus lending a distinctive freshness and fluidity to the details. According to Vicario his terracottas were mostly modelled after 1827, towards the end of Pinelli's life.

RELATED LITERATURE
Playing with fire. European terracotta models, 1740-1840, ex. cat. by J. Draper & G. Scherf, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2004, nos. 5 & 133, fig. 145, p. 231; A. Panzetta, Nuovo dizionario degli scultori Italiani dell'ottocento e del primo novecento, Turin, 2003, vol. 2, p.695; Vicario, V. Gli Scultori Italiani dal Neoclassicismo al Liberty, 2 vols, Lodi, 1994, vol 2, pp. 825-826