Old Master Sculpture & Works of Art

Old Master Sculpture & Works of Art

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 84. ATTRIBUTED TO GIOVANNI BONAZZA (1654-1736), ITALIAN, VENETO, EARLY 18TH CENTURY | BUST OF BACCHUS.

ATTRIBUTED TO GIOVANNI BONAZZA (1654-1736), ITALIAN, VENETO, EARLY 18TH CENTURY | BUST OF BACCHUS

Auction Closed

December 3, 02:41 PM GMT

Estimate

30,000 - 50,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

ATTRIBUTED TO GIOVANNI BONAZZA (1654-1736)

ITALIAN, VENETO, EARLY 18TH CENTURY

BUST OF BACCHUS


marble, on a black marble socle

bust: 48.5cm., 19⅛in.

61cm., 24in. overall

This lot should have a double dagger symbol in the printed catalogue. The item will be sold under the 'Temporary Importation Arrangement' and import VAT will be charged at 5% on the hammer price, although in appropriate circumstances the VAT may be cancelled or refunded. Please refer to the printed catalogue for further VAT information.

This captivating bust of the God of Wine is unmistakably the work of Giovanni Bonazza, one of the most renowned and distinctive exponents of the Venetian Baroque. 


Giovanni Bonazza moved to Padua in 1697, where he established a highly successful sculpture workshop that included assistants as illustrious as Antonio Corradini and Francesco Bertos. Together with his sons and workshop, Bonazza created marble reliefs and figurative groups for palaces and villas throughout the Venetian Republic. Some of his works even travelled as far afield as Russia - between 1716 and 1719 several of his sculptures were purchased by an agent on behalf of Tsar Peter the Great to adorn the palaces and gardens of the Russian court. 


It is in Bonazza's decorative garden sculpture that the present bust finds its most convincing stylistic parallels. A bust representing Autumn in the Botanical Garden in Padua, one of a series of the Four Seasons, compares closely in both composition and details such as the subtle smile and sideways gaze, the carefully delineated flesh of the face, and the differentiation of surface textures. Another comparison can be made with a bust of Flora in the Casa del Prefetto of the Paduan Orto Botanico, which displays the same characteristic deeply carved eyes and mouth. 

It is surely no coincidence that Bonazza's representation of Bacchus epitomises the description of the God of Wine found in the 16th-century iconographic repertoire, Imagini delli Dei de gl'Antichi by Vincenzo Cartari, which was widely circulated in the 17th and 18th centuries. Cartari states that Bacchus is most often shown as 'a youth, beardless, contented and jocund [because] by drinking men awaken their spirits and become more audacious and happy'. 


An illustrated expertise by Dott. Maichol Clemente is available upon request.