The work is probably a contemporary version of the bust of Orazio Marinali from Palazzo Visconti di Brignano, titled Commedia dell’Arte Character, depicting a mask of the commedia dell'arte, most likely Balanzone. This version presents few variations: in the arrangement of the drapery, in the description of the features and as well as in the absence of the shell work on the back.
This bust depicts an aging man, characterized by an ample hat, large mustaches and a prominent nose, and presents all the traits of a famous character of the Commedia dell’Arte, Doctor
Balanzone. This popular character, originally from Bologna, were he has studied, is the typical serious and pretentious smart aleck, that indulges often in verbose long speech stuffed with well read latin quotes. He usually wears the classic robe of the professors of the Studio of Bologna: black toga with white collar and handcuffs, big hat, coat and cloak.
The two busts share similar formal outcomes and expressive force: both are closely related to the extraordinary cycle of statues in soft stone from Vicenza with characters from the Commedia dell'Arte sculpted by Orazio Marinali for the garden of Villa Conti. La Deliziosa in Montegaldella, which show a strong convergence either in the style either in the creative spirit of the works of art.
A similar bust in subject and iconography is also kept at the Museo della Scala in Milan, where it is presented as a 17th-century work depicting Scaramouche.
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BOTTICELLI ANTICHITÀ Firenze
Orazio Marinali, which we can consider as a major sculptor of the baroque period, came from a family of sculptors from Angarano. He moved to Vicenza in 1666, opening there one of the more active and well organized workshop of the time. Inspired by the Vicenza sculptors Albanese, Orazio created an original style ripened in a classical revival climate and animated by realistic and grotesque hints, that impose itself on the venetian baroque sculpture scene.
The amount of works of this sculptor, done by himself or with the aid of his two younger brothers - Francesco and Angelo - are sizeable, spacing from sacred themes to the profane subjects, with orders either from the public, and the private patrons. Graphic and sculpted works from his workshop are today scattered in various museums in the venetian area.
As far as his sacred theme production, we can point out the elegant sculptures on the facade of the church of the Scalzi in Venice (executed before 1680 ), the “gloomy” Apostles carved for the church of San Niccolò all’Arena in Verona, and the “merry” decorations of the sanctuary of Monte Berico in Vicenza.
His production of small size sculptures, and in particular of “statuettes of laying naked females” were very appreciated by the patrons and collectors of the time; examples are the Andromeda tied to a rock once in the collection of the Duke of Modena, or the elegant group Jupiter and Antiopes today in the Hermitage in Saint Petersburgh, and originally in the collection of Abbot Farsetti in Venice.
Also in his production of “secular” sculptures destined for the decoration of gardens or the halls of town palaces, he produced some outstanding masterpieces, like the Judgment of Paris in the Thiene Palace in Vicenza or the sculptural cycles carved for the gardens of Villa Trissino in Trissino, and Villa Conti Lampertico in Montegaldella.
Of the sculptures made for the gardens of Villa Conti in Montegaldella, as we mentioned earlier, outstanding are the group of eight charachters from the Commedia dell’Arte, of which our bust is very near for topic, style and taste affinity. This eight statues placed in couples on the edge of the back garden, they are rightly so considered absolute masterpieces of venetian garden statuary, depicting, Arlecchino, The Captain, Pantalone, Balanzone, Brighella, Pulcinella, the Danzatrice and the Zanni, and therefore to be considered one of the highest achievement and
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BOTTICELLI ANTICHITÀ Firenze
most poetical works of the art of Orazio Marinali; with probably the factive aid of the brother Angelo, this works can be dated within 1686.
According to a procedure well established in the Marinali workshops, as pointed out by Monica De Vincenti (2008), this visual creations are strongly influenced by etchings and engraving of the time from such artists as Jacques Callot, Stefano della Bella and Giuseppe Maria Mitelli.
Finally, it is opportune, to confirm this ascription to the hand of Marinali, the comparison with other works sculpted by the artist, such as the oval relief medallion, portraying Two men in arms from the Conti family in the Villa Conti near Padua, and the bust portraying Pope Alessandro VIII Ottoboni in the Old Duomo of Brescia. In both this works of art we find the same rendering of the proud face expression and the same formal and technical sensibility which is the artist trait that defines the physiognomy that gives life to the portrayed characters, with some details that nearly superimpose, like the way the eyes iris and pupil
are carved, or the lifelike rendering of the skin of the faces.
Simone Guerriero
Bibliography:
Monica De Vincenti, Domino Horatio et Fratelli Marinali bassanesi, illustri scultori della città di Venezia, in Arte Veneta, 63, 2006
Per un Atlante della statuaria veneta da giardino. IV, curated by M. De Vincenti e S. Guerriero, in Arte Veneta, 65, 2008
Simone Guerriero, form Orazio Marinali, Busto di Balanzone, 2012
Monica De Vincenti, Scultura nei giardini delle ville venete. Il territorio vicentino, Venice 2014