.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Born into a family of sculptors, painters and architects, Giuseppe Mazzuoli’s early training began in Siena learning from his father Dionisio and brother Giovanni Antonio. His education continued when he left for Rome, joining the workshop of Ercole Ferrata where he became the student of Melchiorre Caffà. In 1670-71 Mazzuoli sculpted a Dead Christ relief for the antependium of Santa Maria della Scala, Siena which impressed Cardinal Flavio Chigi who would become an important patron of the artist. Whilst in Rome, Mazzuoli also assisted Gian Lorenzo Bernini, who’s late Baroque style would greatly influence his own. He assisted Bernini with the Tomb of Alexander VII in Saint Peter’s Basilica (1671-8) carving the figure of Charity working from Bernini’s model. As Mazzuoli’s career progressed, he began to secure important independent commissions, travelling between Siena and Rome to carry out works for prominent families. In 1677, he was employed by Cardinal Chigi to oversee the sculptural decoration of his residence Villa Cetinale near Siena. The artists and his assistants sculpted eighteen busts for the property alongside a large statue of Hercules.
The present lot depicts a well-dressed young man wearing an elaborate lace collar, a French style fashionable in Italy at the time. His identification as a member or close relative of the Chigi family is drawn from the near identical painted portrait by Jacob Ferdinand Voet (1639-1689) currently housed in the Musée des Beaux-Arts et de la dentelle d'Alençon, France [fig. 1]. The painting dates to circa 1670 and likely served as the model for Mazzuoli’s piece. The Chigis were one of the most important and influential families in Siena during the late 17th century in part thanks to the papacy of Alexander VII, Cardinal Chigi’s uncle, from 1655-67. It has been suggested, on the basis of the identities of Voet’s other Chigi portraits, that a possible candidate for the sitter is Francesco Piccolomini (1650-1720), son of Virginia Chigi (see Montanari op. cit. p. 186).
The present lot depicts a well-dressed young man wearing an elaborate lace collar, a French style fashionable in Italy at the time. His identification as a member or close relative of the Chigi family is drawn from the near identical painted portrait by Jacob Ferdinand Voet (1639-1689) currently housed in the Musée des Beaux-Arts et de la dentelle d'Alençon, France [fig. 1]. The painting dates to circa 1670 and likely served as the model for Mazzuoli’s piece. The Chigis were one of the most important and influential families in Siena during the late 17th century in part thanks to the papacy of Alexander VII, Cardinal Chigi’s uncle, from 1655-67. It has been suggested, on the basis of the identities of Voet’s other Chigi portraits, that a possible candidate for the sitter is Francesco Piccolomini (1650-1720), son of Virginia Chigi (see Montanari op. cit. p. 186).