Francesco Bertos (1678-1741) Italian, Venice, circa 1700

Bonham's London, 29 October 2002, lot 70

C. Avery, The Triumph of Motion. Francesco Bertos (1678-1741) and the Art of Sculpture. Catalogue Raisonné, Turin, 2008, p. 173, nos. 31-32

Overall the condition of the marbles is good with dirt and wear to the surfaces consistent with age. There are a few small abbrasions, including to the feet and to Galatea's hands. There are a few small chips including to above Polyphemus's proper left buttock and to Galatea's proper right thigh. There is minor veining consistent with the material, including to Polyphemus's face and to Galatea's proper right arm. There are a few naturally occuring inclusions. There are a few scratches to Polyphemus's legs. There is possibly a very small reattachment to Polyphemus's cloak of the back and a few to the rock behind Galatea (though these may be naturally occuring). There are a few chips to the bases. The surfaces of the marbles are quite dry and would benefit from a wax.
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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."

Around 1730, the Venetian sculptor Francesco Bertos was questioned by the Italian Inquisition.  The charge was that his astounding virtuosity in carving complex figure groups in marble was achieved by some form of pact with the devil.  Bertos had to defend his pious sincerity against this false accusation, which may have been made by a jealous rival sculptor.  It is believed that his multi-figure group of the Triumph of Christianity, inscribed HVCVSQ(V)E F. o BERTOS LICVIT (Thus far [and no further] it has been permitted to Francesco Bertos [to go]), was made as testimony to his religious belief and obedience. The groups which Avery suggests were used by the Inquisition as proof of Bertos's unnatural skill are the lost, but documented marble allegories of the Arts, commissioned by Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg. These ambitious marbles were partly paid for by 1732 and announced a sculptor of unique talent, but one who seems to have emerged suddenly and without a clear teacher; even Bertos's birth and death date were unknown to modern scholars until Avery's monographic study in 2008.  What sketchy biographical information there is comes from some general early 19^thcentury publications.  G.A. Moschini notes that the Venetian sculptor Giovanni Bonazza (1654-1736) was his teacher - and there is a certain stylistic comparison.

The demands of Bertos's main patrons, such as Antonio Manin and Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg, certainly encouraged erudite, not to say obscure and inventive, iconography. A few documented commissions demonstrate that each figure should have a specific identity, but at the same time, there seems to have been built into the individual protagonists, and their relationships, an intentional ambiguity of meaning which was meant to stimulate debate amongst the observers. As Avery described it, these marbles are the advanced crossword puzzles of their day.