Attributed to Giuseppe Lironi | Attribué à Giuseppe Lironi

Another, slightly smaller version of this elegant terracotta depicting Saint Sebastian is at the Palazzo Venezia, Rome. Its attribution to the prominent Roman sculptor Giuseppe Gironi depends largely on the existence of a marble version from the Sir Brinsley Ford Collection, which was purchased in Rome in the 1770s by the Jesuit Father Thorpe on behalf of the 8th Earl of Arundell, and was said by Thorpe to be the work of Lironi. Nicholas Penny (op. cit., p. 273) considered this to have been an academic reception piece, for which the Palazzo Venezia terracotta is thought to represent the preparatory model. The present, finely modelled and slightly larger terracotta version shows some variation in details, for example in the skirt of the armour below the Saint's right arm. The model has been compared stylistically to works by Massimiliano Soldani-Benzi, notably his Lamentation over the dead Christ in the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, which provides a parallel for the Pietà-like pose of the Saint's body and his beautiful facial features (Giometti, op. cit.).

Active in Rome for the majority of his career, Giuseppe Lironi received prestigious commissions and is known primarily for his monumental ecclesiastical sculpture. He provided statuary for the portico of St Peter's Basilica, and contributed to the decorative scheme of the Corsini Chapel in the church of San Giovanni in Laterano.

RELATED LITERATURE

N. Penny, 'Sculpture', in 'The Ford Collection - II', The Volume of the Walpole Society, vol. 60, 1998, pp. 267-279; C. Giometti, Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia. Vol. IV, Sculture in Terracotta, Rome, 2011, pp. 90-92, no. 88

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Une autre version, légèrement plus petite, de cette élégante terre cuite représentant saint Sébastien est conservée au Palazzo Venezia, à Rome. Son attribution au célèbre sculpteur romain Giuseppe Gironi dépend en grande partie de l'existence d'une version en marbre, dans la collection Sir Brinsley Ford, achetée à Rome dans les années 1770 par le père jésuite Thorpe au nom du 8e comte d'Arundell, et dont Thorpe disait qu'elle était l'œuvre de Lironi. Nicholas Penny (op. cit.) estimait qu'il s'agissait d'une pièce de réception pour une académi, dont la terre cuite du Palazzo Venezia représenterait le modèle préparatoire. Notre version en terre cuite, finement modelée et légèrement plus grande, présente quelques variations dans les détails, par exemple dans la jupe de l'armure sous le bras droit inanimé de saint Sébastien.

REFERENCE BIBLIOGRAPHIQUE

C. Giometti, Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia. Vol. IV, Sculture in Terracotta, Rome, 2011, pp. 90-92, no. 88