Lot 463: GIUSEPPE MARIA MAZZA

WALKING CUPID
signed and dated on the reverse: 17(?)6 G:M υF

height 11 3/4 in.; 29.2 cm

terracotta

<P>mid 18th century</P>

Washington, New York, Cambridge 1979-1982, no. 40 (illus.)

Heim Gallery, London

RELATED LITERATURE

Riccòmini 1972, pp. 90-115, figs. 210-277


Several of Mazza's terracottas are signed including a terracotta relief of the Rest on the Flight to Egypt in the Cleveland Museum of Art which is signed G.M., and a group of the Madonna and Child from the Boschi Collection in Bologna which is also signed G.M.

The broad face, small, lozenge-shaped eyes and diminutive nose and mouth can be seen in other figures by Mazza such as his putti and reliefs with female allegorical figures in the Palazzo Widmann-Foscari, Venice. Mazza employed voluminous drapery and was celebrated for his subtle, sweet facial features and expressions.