Lot 104: A TERRACOTTA ALLEGORICAL FIGURE REPRESENTING TEMPERANCE

BY FILIPPO DELLA VALLE (1698-1768), CIRCA 1732
Depicted facing to sinister, holding a jug and pouring water into an urn; on an integrally moulded rectangular plinth; very minor repairs and losses
23 1/4 in. (59 cm.) high

H. Honour, 'Filippo Della Valle,' The Connoisseur, CXLIV 1959, pp. 172-9, fig. 2.

COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
A. N. Cellini, La Scultura del Settecento, Turin, 1982, pp. 45-51.

Count Antoine Seilern, London, and thence by descent to the present owner.

The Property of a European Princely Family

Filippo della Valle's career as an artist began in his early teens when he entered the workshop of his uncle and prolific sculptor, Giovanni Battista Foggini (1652-1725). As is evident from della Valle's extant works, Foggini clearly impressed upon his young nephew the principles of baroque art, which the latter modified to suit his more subtle stylistic traits. After his uncle's death in 1725, della Valle left for Rome and entered Camillo Rusconi's workshop. There he began an apprenticeship at the same time as his rival, Pietro Bracci, also began gaining notoriety as a sculptor. Their paths crossed frequently over the following 40 years; the former showing his harmonious and elegant understanding of sculpture, with the latter revealing his Roman roots and bold sense of drama.

Della Valle's apprenticeship ended in 1728 with Rusconi's death, but by then he had founded his own workshop and was working independently, as the splendid bust of Carlo Cerri in the Chiesa del Gesù, Rome, proves. The success of this bust and the patronage of Clement XII lead to further commissions, the most important at the time being the life-size marble figure of Temperance for the Corsini Chapel, in San Giovanni Laterano, Rome, executed between 1732-3 (Cellini, loc. cit.). The present terracotta is virtually identical to that marble, and may well have been a presentation piece used to get final approval from the patron.

Relating to the marble are three terracotta versions of Temperance; one in the Musée du Luxembourg, Paris, another formerly from the Castle Howard collection, and the present lot, formerly from the Seilern collection, London. While all terracottas compare very closely to the marble, it is recognisable that the Musée du Luxembourg and the Castle Howard examples have a sketchier and less finished surface. Whether this is the result of their being preparatory studies or productions after the marble- perhaps catering for the Grand Tour trade - is open to question, but what is evident is that della Valle was working on a different level when modelling the present lot. In this terracotta one sees that the artist is developing very human qualities in the clay, particularly in the romantic, almost melancholic, downwards gaze, the unassuming posture and the delicate way in which the subject pours water from her urn. The equally subtle act of placing her right foot over the edge of the plinth means she steps out of the constraints of the composition, just as the marble does from its niche, and into the real world, inspiring the onlooker to share in her temperance. While the other terracottas are a more direct reflection of the marble, the charm of the present terracotta is that there are subtle differences between it and the finished marble, and a greater air of spontaneity in the modelling. There is thus a greater sense of the artistic presence of della Valle in this piece than even the finished marble in the Corsini Chapel is able to convey.

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