- 490
An Italian marble bust of Diana, by Giusto Il Corte (1627-1678) circa 1660
Description
- Marble
- height overall 27 3/4 in.
- 70.5 cm
Condition
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.
Catalogue Note
This fine marble bust of Diana is immediately recognizable as the work of the Flemish born Italian sculptor Giusto Il Corte (or Juste Le Court), who travelled to Rome and eventually settled in Venice around 1655. He quickly became well-known and won several commissions but his most celebrated work was the decoration of the high altar of S Maria della Salute, Venice. The animation and often theatricality of his sculptures recalls the style of Gianlorenzo Bernini, whose works Il Corte would have seen on his visits to Rome. He was clearly captivated by variations in texture, which he used in his carvings to enhance the details and play of light and shade. The lively treatment seen here in Diana's hair, artfully gathered in a chignon and adorned with a plait, directly corresponds to several of Il Corte's busts and figures including his bust of a female in Stra. villa Pisani (Guerriero, op. cit., fig. 196). He carved the hair on his bust of Christ (Guerriero, op. cit., fig. 237) in Cittadella, chiesetta di Bernardo Nave in the same manner, building up the volume with undulating curls and tresses falling on the chest, finishing in fine strands of hair. The large, almond-shaped eyes with delicately carved tear ducts and thin eye lids combined with very a classical nose are also characteristic of Il Corte's work, particularly in his mythological or allegorical figures and busts.
The broad face with full lips seen in this Diana is another distinguishing feature of his sculptures including his two signed allegories of Strength and Prudence in the monument to Alvise Mocenigo in San Lazzaro dei Mendicanti, executed between 1657 and 1665 (Bacchi, op. cit., figs. 411 and 412).
RELATED LITERATURE
A. Bacchi, Giusto Il Corte, in La sculture a Venezia a Sansovino a Canova, eds. A. Bacchi and S. Zanuso, Milan 2000
S. Guerriero, "Le alterne fortuine dei marmi: busti, teste di carattere e altre 'scolture moderne' nelle collezione veneziane tra sei e settecento," in La scultura veneta de seicento e del settecento: nuovi studi, Venice, 2002, pp. 73-149
A. Bacchi, "Le cose piĆ¹ belle e principali nelle chiese di Venezia sono opere sue": Giusto Le Court a Santa Maria della Salute (e altrove), in Nuovi Studi, XI, 12, 2006, pp. 145-158