Bernardino Novi (active circa 1555-1595)

From Tintoretto to Tiepolo. Summer Exhibition, Heim Gallery, London, 1980, no. 26

When exhibited at the Heim Gallery in the Summer of 1980, this bust was shown with a companion bust of a Man in a Doublet. Both marbles were identified as Roman, late 16th century because of their stylistic affinities with the work of sculptors, mainly from Lombardy, such as G. A. Da Valsolda, Silla da Viggiu and Ippolito Buzio, who worked in Rome during the last quarter of the century. These busts reflect the more restrained context of the Counter Reformation which ushered in a period of more sober representation in painting and sculpture. The undemonstrative contemporary dress of the present bust and his reflective, calm expression are both typical of the period.

Sotheby’s is grateful to Dr Luca Annibali for proposing an attribution of the present bust to the sculptor Bernardino Novi. Recorded in Genoa between 1555 and 1595, Novi is thought to have collaborated with sculptors such as Galeazzo Alessi and Pompeo Leoni. His statue of Cattaneo Pinelli (1555) in the Palazzo Doria-Tursi in Genoa provides a compelling stylistic comparison for the present bust, showing closely analogous carving of the beard and facial features.