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拍品专文
This work is sold with a photo-certificate from Inge Manzù.
During a visit to Rome in 1934, Manzù visited St Peter's Basilica where he saw Pope Pius XI flanked by two cardinals, a sight he recorded in a drawing and which was to make a lasting impression on the young sculptor, although it was only after the Second World War that he began to create his now iconic sculptures on the theme. 'In Manzù's hands the Cardinals were transformed into compact forceful volumes, enlivened by extremely tender modelling and generously draped folds. The massiveness of the volumes is stressed by the economy of lines and the simplicity of plastic means...A simplification of this kind naturally makes the highest demands on technical skill...the planes are never lifeless, the folds are never rigid; by means of extremely sensitive modelling the surface is made to vibrate' (J. Rewald, Giacomo Manzù, London, 1967, p. 60).
Manzù, who had lost his faith in Christianity by the time he created his Cardinali, was nevertheless greatly impressed by the combination of earthly power and a strong religious detachment, as though they were already linked to the heaven of which they preached. This confidence and the sheer physicality of the Cardinal's cope mixes with the otherworldly gaze to create a potent image of power that, Manzù admitted, has little to do with religion; 'I should say that when they are the model, rather than any other works of a religious nature, I am not specifically thinking of religion; what I have made has no link with the Church. It could perhaps seem nonsensical that it is I of all people who carried out this work - as someone has upheld - but it could also be the case that the laymen are the ones who understand better than others what is expressed in the religious world' (Manzù, quoted in M. Pisani, 'Intervista a Giacomo Manzù', in exh. cat. Manzù, Milan, 1988, p. 48).
During a visit to Rome in 1934, Manzù visited St Peter's Basilica where he saw Pope Pius XI flanked by two cardinals, a sight he recorded in a drawing and which was to make a lasting impression on the young sculptor, although it was only after the Second World War that he began to create his now iconic sculptures on the theme. 'In Manzù's hands the Cardinals were transformed into compact forceful volumes, enlivened by extremely tender modelling and generously draped folds. The massiveness of the volumes is stressed by the economy of lines and the simplicity of plastic means...A simplification of this kind naturally makes the highest demands on technical skill...the planes are never lifeless, the folds are never rigid; by means of extremely sensitive modelling the surface is made to vibrate' (J. Rewald, Giacomo Manzù, London, 1967, p. 60).
Manzù, who had lost his faith in Christianity by the time he created his Cardinali, was nevertheless greatly impressed by the combination of earthly power and a strong religious detachment, as though they were already linked to the heaven of which they preached. This confidence and the sheer physicality of the Cardinal's cope mixes with the otherworldly gaze to create a potent image of power that, Manzù admitted, has little to do with religion; 'I should say that when they are the model, rather than any other works of a religious nature, I am not specifically thinking of religion; what I have made has no link with the Church. It could perhaps seem nonsensical that it is I of all people who carried out this work - as someone has upheld - but it could also be the case that the laymen are the ones who understand better than others what is expressed in the religious world' (Manzù, quoted in M. Pisani, 'Intervista a Giacomo Manzù', in exh. cat. Manzù, Milan, 1988, p. 48).