Francesco Bertos

each inscribed on the top of the base: OPUS F[reversed] BERTOS, one with: INGENIVM NVNQVAM ET SAPIENSIA DEFITCIVNT on a cartouche on socle, the other with: BENEFICIVM VTIQVE ET GRATITVDO VIVVNT.

Christie's London, April 24, 1986, lot 21; Heim Gallery, London

Fogelman and Fusco 2002, pp. 293-299, no. 37 (illus.); London 1994; Avery 2008, cat. nos. 85 and 86 (illus.)

Both with general surface abrasions and losses to lacquer. Greater surface losses to the group pictured at right in the catalogue. In the group pictured at left: Implement in woman's hand with losses. Some casting flaws including original crack and pin through man's proper right ankle. Casting crack from man's proper right pectoral diagonally through drapery on left. Some old patches in his proper right. Losses and chipping to both bases. One base (shown at left) with two additional holes to top, the other with one, possibly from other mounts.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The present pair of allegorical bronzes was once part of a set, with two others entitled Stupidity and Fortune and Industry and Virtue now in the J. Paul Getty Museum.  The four share the same original waisted, four-sided, bronze mounted socles which bear the artist's signature on the tops and Latin mottos inscribed in cartouches around the bottoms.  Although the attributes are somewhat ambigious (as is not uncommon in Bertos's work), the mottos incorporate the virtues that the figures are intended to personify: "Kindness and Gratitude assuredly live" and "Intelligence and Wisdom never fail".  The pose of the male figure holding the nude female aloft is a familiar motif in Bertos's allegorical groups and certainly derives from Giambologna's Rape of the Sabines. The poses of the present pair are nearly identical, and share the same configuration with the Getty's Industry and Virtue.  Another pair exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1994 (Avery 2008, op. cit., nos. 87-88) shares the composition, as does a pair sold at Sotheby's London in 1956 (Avery 2008, op. cit., nos. 89-90); neither of those pairs shares the same style of base with the Sackler and Getty pairs.  Although Wengraf  suggests that these were all part of the same group, it is likely that the other two pairs come from a similar but distinct set.