Lot Essay
Iganzio (1724-1793) and Filippo Collino (1737-1801) were two brother sculptors working during the second half of the 18th century in the court of the dukes of Savoy in Turin. Their style was a subtle blend of 18th century classicism with elements of the earlier baroque style and resulted in, for example, the pseudo-classical life-size marble figures of Carlo Emmanuele III and Vittorio Amedeo II (both circa 1767) in the Palazzo dell'Università, Turin (Cellini, op. cit., p. 221, figs. 1-2). It is through considering the stylistic idiosyncrasies of these figures as well as any of the figures from the funerary monument to Carlo Emanuele III (1788) in the Basilica di Superga, Turin, that one can connect the delicate and subtly beautiful profile relief offered here to the Collino brothers and their workshop. In each instance one can detect a very similar treatment to the hair which falls in highly curled thick locks, and equally comparable facial types which are delicately serene and which have the lips betraying the slightest smiles.