Attributed to Alessandro della Scala (active early 16th century) Italian, Lombardy, early 16th century

Overall the condition of the marble is good, with some wear weathering and dirt to the surface consistent with age. Due to exposure to the elements there is staining to the surface throughout and some encrustation. The lot comprises of six panels, possibly cut to size later.The square panel with the angel and the male prophet is in two sections and mounted on a marble slab and has a supplimentary carved marble edge on the right side. There are several chips along the edges of the panels and the edges of the roundels, including the roundels with the lamb and flag and angel on one of the wider panels, and to the top left corner of the square panel with two male prophets. There are numerous losses to the figures, notably at the legs of the animals, as can be seen in the printed catalogue, and the snout of three of the lambs with the lamb and flag and angel to the left.The deep undercutting of some of the decorative elements has led to some losses, including to the foliate motifs to the edges of the relief, and the armilary sphere to the right of the wider relief with the lamb and flag and angel to the left. The panels are of varying depth.
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These extraordinary marble reliefs are an important rediscovery and a significant addition to the oeuvre of Alessandro della Scala, an early 16^th-century Lombard sculptor working in the circle of Bambaia (circa 1483-1548). They are closely related to a pair of roundels with the Tiburtine and Cumean Sibyls in the Castello Sforzesco, Milan (reproduced by the Fondazione Federico Zeri; entry nos. 78372 and 78373). The roundels, which have been attributed to Alessandro della Scala (Fiorio, op. cit.), are clearly by the same hand. Their billowing drapes, Oriental headdresses, and scrolling banners are also found in the roundels with Prophetesses on the present reliefs. Moreover, the spatial treatment of the two figures within their round frames is exactly the same.

The present sculptures appear to come from a lost monument of which three further, near-identical, reliefs are known to exist (Faria Moreira, op. cit., p. 83). Each of these comes from the Azeitão region of Portugal, and were traditionally ascribed to the anonymous Master of the Reliefs of Azeitão, who is today identified as Alessandro della Scala. The most famous of the three reliefs forms the central decorative element of a fountain constructed in the 1760’s in the village of Vila de Nogueira in Azeitão. The two further reliefs  were respectively recorded in 1977 as being in a private collection in Sesimbra, and in the collection of the Portuguese industrialist Jorge de Brito near Setúbal (formerly in the possession of the Visconde de Montalvo) (Faria Moreira, op. cit., p. 83). Like the present reliefs, these marbles are of rectangular form with two rows of roundels alternately filled with figures of prophets, angels and symbols of the Evangelists.

The survival of nine substantial fragments, three of which come from Portugal, would indicate that Alessandro della Scala was responsible for a large and important Portuguese monument, and that he must have travelled to the Iberian Peninsula to execute it. The most compelling theory as to the identity of this structure was proposed by José Cortez Pimentel in 1992, who suggested that they may have come from the rostrum constructed by the Dukes of Aveiro for the Dominican church attached to their ducal palace, and that they would have been removed only after the palace was destroyed by the great earthquake of 1755 (Pimentel, op. cit.). The Dukes of Aveiro were one of the most powerful aristocratic houses in Portugal from the early 16^th-century until their fall from grace during the Távora affair of 1758. It is undoubtedly the case that they were amongst the few families in 16^th-century Portugal who would have had the funds to commission such a lavish monument. An alternative theory was proposed by Monteiro, who suggested that they may have come from the altar of St John the Baptist from the church of São Simão, Azeitão (Calado, op. cit.). In the absence of documentary evidence, it can be concluded that it is at least likely that each of the marbles came from a monument that was felled by the earthquake of 1755, owing to their fragmentary nature, the damages sustained to the surfaces of the Azeitão reliefs, and to the fact that the Vila de Nogueira fountain is understood to have been adorned with its relief the 1760’s, a mere few years after the great earthquake struck.

The attribution of both the Portuguese marbles and the present reliefs to Alessandro della Scala is further strengthened by comparisons with other of his works. We can note, for example, important similarities between the figures on the present marbles with those from a relief with the Madonna and Child by Della Scala in the Sanctuario, Tirano, which is dated 1519 (Natale, op. cit., p. 280, fig. 177). The Madonna’s headdress and drapery, which terminates in stylised crushed folds, are very close to the clothing worn by the prophets in the present relief. The soft, fluid, folds of these diaphanous drapes are typical of Della Scala’s style, and contrast with chartaceous (paper-like) drapery seen in works by Lombard sculptors of just one generation before, such as Amadeo, Cristoforo Mantegazza and Antonio Piatti. Observe also how the figures from the Tirano relief have the same softly carved facial features, with pinched noses, as those in the present reliefs. Interestingly, the Tirano relief is adorned with two roundels inlaid with coloured marbles, which have moulded edges that are close to those of the present roundels. The armillary spheres find precedents in those on Bambaia’s tomb of Gian marco and Zenone Birago on the Isola Bella, Lago Maggiore, which dates to 1522.

It is rare to find a group of important Italian Renaissance sculptures, which are likely to have been made for a Portuguese patron. The suggestion that they formed part of a monument in Portugal is strengthened by the prominence of the armillary spheres, which have deep significance in Portugal, appearing on the arms of King Manuel I (1495-1521). That Alessandro della Scala may have been constructed a monument outside of Italy is a fascinating notion, which remains to be fully explored by academic research.

See extended catalogue note and related literature online at sothebys.com

We are grateful to Professor Vito Zani for his assistance in cataloguing this lot.