Scope of Francesco Bertos (1678-1741)

Scope of Francesco Bertos (1678-1741)

Female hunter figures

(2) Marble, height 30 cm

The pair of marble sculptures that we present here is part of the Venetian sculpture of the early eighteenth century and in particular in the context of Francesco Bertos, a sculptor and foundryman born in the surroundings of Venice, to be precise in Dolo, along the Brenta river riviera. The reconstruction of his biography was very difficult for critics, so much so that it was unable to confirm with certainty the long-ventilated hypothesis of his youthful trip to Rome. A more careful examination, which took place thanks to the new studies carried out on the occasion of the recent exhibition, named after him, at the Gallerie d'Italia in Vicenza, has instead considered travel and experiences in the Veneto region or in neighboring Romagna to be more plausible, thus outlining an education linked to the land of origin, where the Bonazza workshop operated, founded by his contemporary Giovanni, of whom he was also a collaborator. The latter was a pupil of the Flemish artist Giusto Le Court, active in Venice and an exponent of that virtuosity of the Flemish and German sculptors of the seventeenth century which so inspired Bertos in the meticulous creation of small sculptural groups in bronze and marble. Other sources of inspiration external to Venzia are the Tuscan ones, such as the works of the Florentine Giovanni Battista Foggini, a contemporary sculptor and architect in the service of the Medici, and those of a mannerist nature by Giambologna, whose compositions - such as the Two-Figure Rape (1579) - were the inspiration for Bertos' most original sculptures. In fact, his fame will establish itself among the great European clients, such as Tsar Peter the Great, King Charles Emmanuel III of Savoy and Doge Alvise Pisani, thanks to works of small format but rendered with meticulousness and through compositions of extreme complexity and with a dynamic structure free to expand into space. Bertos' incredible technical ability left his contemporaries amazed, so much so that they considered this mastery almost superhuman, and even attracted the attention of the Inquisition, which accused him of having made a pact with the devil. In addition to this, much vaunted technical virtuosity, Bertos' sculptures hide a cultured, allegorical, mythological and symbolic dimension that allows them to be interpreted as precious intellectual games, present, moreover, also in this pair of statuettes connected not only by genre but also by hunting theme, also treated by the artist in other sculptures such as the Allegory of the Hunt for the Royal Palace of Turin. If one can be interpreted as Diana, the Roman goddess of hunting perhaps represented here in the act of drying herself after bathing, the other would seem like a hunter divinity closer to the allegorical representation of the American continent, often depicted with a bow and arrow and in a vigilant attitude and combative. The dynamic and fluid poses, the accuracy of the workmanship, the small format and the subtlety with which the theme of hunting is allegorically treated therefore appear as clear references to the art of this sculptor and to the culture of the period and areas in which he lived and worked.

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Unpardoned. Vault. € 4,500 = Monthly instalment € 300 for 15 months.

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