Lot Essay
Andrea di Alessandro Baruzzi, Il Bresciano flourished 1530-69
The appearance of the present bronze andirons marks an important addition to our knowledge of Venetian bronze-founders, and specifically to the oeuvre of Andrea di Alessandro Bresciano, whose identity is now generally accepted to be Andrea Baruzzi (1530-1569). This oeuvre centres upon an elaborate Paschal candlestick originally commissioned for the monastic church of S. Spirito on the small island of Isola in the lagoon of Venice. It is signed 'AND. DI ALESS. BRES. F', which may be read 'Andrea di Alessandro Bresciano fece'. Although a number of other bronzes have been attributed to the same artist on the basis of their similarity to the candlestick, it remains the sculptor's only signed work.
Until Charles Davis's article in 1976 (loc. cit.), the identity of Bresciano remained uncertain. It was believed that two documents referring to payments made by the sculptor Alessandro Vittoria to a founder called Andrea probably referred to the man responsible for the candlestick. However, Feneroli's identification of Bresciano with Andrea Baruzzi, a Brescian founder who died in Rome in 1569, was dismissed because it was thought that the candlestick dated from later in the 16th century. Davis's publication of a letter from Cosimo Bartoli to Prince Francesco de' Medici showed that the candlestick was in existence by 1568, and so the idea that Baruzzi was the author of it had to be re-assessed.
This letter, written in June 1568 by the Florentine agent resident in Venice, is of particular importance in the present context, for in it, Bartoli is attempting to interest Francesco in '...two princely fire-dogs, each two braccia high, or perhaps a little less, and each composed of figures, masks, harpies, festoons, vases and other ornaments' (Davis, op. cit., p. 164). The letter was, in fact, the second one written by Bartoli on the subject, but the first letter, directed to Vasari, elicited no response, and Bartoli did not want to miss the opportunity to purchase such splendid andirons. He stated that the andirons were by the same Master Andrea who cast the Paschal candlestick for the friars of Santo Spirito, and that they cost 100 scudi.
It takes only the briefest examination of the present andirons to conclude that they are by the same hand as the signed Paschal candlestick, now in the church of Santa Maria della Salute, Venice.
Quite apart from any stylistic similarities, the conclusive evidence is that identical sphinxes appear at the bottom of each andiron as well as on the base of the candlestick. They also accord, in every respect, with Bartoli's account of the andirons offered to Francesco de' Medici.
No evidence exists to show that Francesco de' Medici followed the suggestion of his agent, Bartoli, and it is likely that the andirons were subsequently purchased from 'Master Andrea' by another noble Venetian family. Considering the known provenance of the other andiron in the present collection (lot 27), it is probable that these bronzes were also in the collection of the Soranzo family of Venice. Whether or not this is the case, it is known that they were purchased by the 3rd Earl of Bute while in Italy in the early 1770s, and one of the pair is reproduced in The Works in Architecture of Robert and James Adam, 1779, pl.VIII, in a 1774 engraving of furnishings for the Bute family home, Luton Park (illustrated on page 58). With a firm attribution to Andrea Bresciano and details of their existence in Venice in 1568, as well as their subsequent provenance with the Earls and Marquesses of Bute, these bronzes possess a remarkably well-documented history, and give a superb insight into patronage in both Italy and England.
The appearance of the present bronze andirons marks an important addition to our knowledge of Venetian bronze-founders, and specifically to the oeuvre of Andrea di Alessandro Bresciano, whose identity is now generally accepted to be Andrea Baruzzi (1530-1569). This oeuvre centres upon an elaborate Paschal candlestick originally commissioned for the monastic church of S. Spirito on the small island of Isola in the lagoon of Venice. It is signed 'AND. DI ALESS. BRES. F', which may be read 'Andrea di Alessandro Bresciano fece'. Although a number of other bronzes have been attributed to the same artist on the basis of their similarity to the candlestick, it remains the sculptor's only signed work.
Until Charles Davis's article in 1976 (loc. cit.), the identity of Bresciano remained uncertain. It was believed that two documents referring to payments made by the sculptor Alessandro Vittoria to a founder called Andrea probably referred to the man responsible for the candlestick. However, Feneroli's identification of Bresciano with Andrea Baruzzi, a Brescian founder who died in Rome in 1569, was dismissed because it was thought that the candlestick dated from later in the 16th century. Davis's publication of a letter from Cosimo Bartoli to Prince Francesco de' Medici showed that the candlestick was in existence by 1568, and so the idea that Baruzzi was the author of it had to be re-assessed.
This letter, written in June 1568 by the Florentine agent resident in Venice, is of particular importance in the present context, for in it, Bartoli is attempting to interest Francesco in '...two princely fire-dogs, each two braccia high, or perhaps a little less, and each composed of figures, masks, harpies, festoons, vases and other ornaments' (Davis, op. cit., p. 164). The letter was, in fact, the second one written by Bartoli on the subject, but the first letter, directed to Vasari, elicited no response, and Bartoli did not want to miss the opportunity to purchase such splendid andirons. He stated that the andirons were by the same Master Andrea who cast the Paschal candlestick for the friars of Santo Spirito, and that they cost 100 scudi.
It takes only the briefest examination of the present andirons to conclude that they are by the same hand as the signed Paschal candlestick, now in the church of Santa Maria della Salute, Venice.
Quite apart from any stylistic similarities, the conclusive evidence is that identical sphinxes appear at the bottom of each andiron as well as on the base of the candlestick. They also accord, in every respect, with Bartoli's account of the andirons offered to Francesco de' Medici.
No evidence exists to show that Francesco de' Medici followed the suggestion of his agent, Bartoli, and it is likely that the andirons were subsequently purchased from 'Master Andrea' by another noble Venetian family. Considering the known provenance of the other andiron in the present collection (lot 27), it is probable that these bronzes were also in the collection of the Soranzo family of Venice. Whether or not this is the case, it is known that they were purchased by the 3rd Earl of Bute while in Italy in the early 1770s, and one of the pair is reproduced in The Works in Architecture of Robert and James Adam, 1779, pl.VIII, in a 1774 engraving of furnishings for the Bute family home, Luton Park (illustrated on page 58). With a firm attribution to Andrea Bresciano and details of their existence in Venice in 1568, as well as their subsequent provenance with the Earls and Marquesses of Bute, these bronzes possess a remarkably well-documented history, and give a superb insight into patronage in both Italy and England.