Pietro Bazzanti (ITALIAN, 1825-1895): A MARBLE FIGURE OF A CHILD

Lot description

PIETRO BAZZANTI (ITALIAN, 1825-1895): A MARBLE FIGURE OF A CHILD the nude boy reclining on a cushion with tassels over a finely carved Renaissance style day bed with volute scroll top and carved with flowers, the back of the bed signed 'P. BAZZANTI F. FIRENZE', 64cm wide x 34cm high Provenance: Private UK Collection. Reputedly purchased at Sotheby's in the 1980's. This unusual marble figure appears to be derived or influenced by an 18th century marble portrait of the royal infant Carlo Tito di Borbone by Giuseppe Sanmartino, circa 1775 and now in the Royal Palace of Caserta. The pose of the child is similar; and although the work follows a tradition of marble figures of lying putti by sculptors such as Duquesnoy; they usually are asleep with eyes closed, whereas our figure has clearly delineated pupils and is wide awake. Rather than referencing an ancient Roman work, our boy reclines on a Renaissance style bed rather than a layer of flowing drapery, indicating that like Sanmartino's marble, this may indeed be a portrait rather than a depiction of a generic angel. Like many of the other Italian marble sculptors of the day, Bazzanti ran his own studio and gallery, selling his works to the public directly. Other sculptor's such as Romanelli also ran their own galleries, exhibiting their own works and those of the most highly regarded sculptors at the time, such as Cesare Lapini, Ferdinando Vichi and Guglielmo Pugi.