Lot 461: WORKSHOP OF CAMILLO RUSCONI

SUMMER AND WINTER

heights 19 7/8 in., 20 1/8 in.; 50.4 cm, 51.1 cm

a pair, terracotta

<P>circa 1700</P>

Heim Autumn 1970, nos. 79-80; Washington, New York, Cambridge 1979-1982, nos. 25-26 (illus.); New York 1981, nos. 18-19

Engass 1976, pp. 92-93; Rome 1991, p. 66; Rome and Venice 1992, p. 118, no. 58; Rudoph 1995, p. 198; Bacchi 1996, p. 843; Chicago 1998, pp. 106 ? 107, no. 32; Noè 2000

Heim Gallery, London

The present charming pair of terracottas are directly related to two marble statues from a series of four putti representing the Seasons by Camillo Rusconi in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle.

Various scholars have noted Pascoli's (E. Pascoli, Vite de Pittori, Scultori ed Architetti Moderni, vol. I, Rome, 1730) account of Rusconi creating a beautiful clay figure of a putto with grapes (Autumn) which was admired by his patron and friend Manchese Niccolò Maria Pallavicini. Rusconi was then commissioned to carve a series of four marble putti representing the Seasons which was later documented as having been taken to England after the Manchese's death (Pascoli, op. cit., p. 261). The models became immediately popular in Rome, as evidenced by their appearance in several museum collections.

The present pair vary in several details from the marbles including the design of the rockwork bases, the use of drapery in particular areas, and in the position of the bird on the figure of Winter. These variations have supported the supposition, by some scholars, that these terracottas are indeed models, in that the compositions were still being worked out prior to the execution of the marbles.

A pair of terracotta putti by Rusconi representing Autumn and Spring were at Galerie Patrice Bellanger, Paris in 1996 and were catalogued as models by Rusconi. They are of the same dimensions as the present pair and the rockwork bases are of comparable design.

A smaller terracotta version of Winter by Rusconi is preserved in the Hermitage, St. Petersburg (Androsov, op. cit., 1992 no. 32) and exhibits differences from both the present Winter and the final marble in the Royal Collection. Another Winter in the Museo di Palazzo Venezia is considered to be an artist's bozzetto by Rusconi.