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Lot Essay
This spectacular composition is a tour-de-force of marble carving. A confection of towering figures representing Truth triumphing over Calumny, this sophisticated design seems about to topple from its own weight, but the sense of fragility is illusory as it is, literally, set in stone. Hidden high above 5th Avenue for more than thirty years in Mona Ackerman's elegant apartment which was designed by Peter Marino, the Fasolato was displayed alongside an elegant Roman torso of Apollo from the 1st-2nd century A.D. and a fiercely modern marble by Jean Arp from the 1950's all in window bays overlooking the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
For decades this iconic sculpture was thought to have been by Francesco Bertos, who pioneered these iconic compositions, but it has been convincingly re-attributed to Agostino Fasolato (1714-1787), who was a master carver following closely the ground-breaking work of Bertos. Fasolato, in fact, at times even exceeded Bertos in the refinement of his carved details. As Avery has noted, Fasolato clearly copied some of Bertos' compositions and 'improved upon' them, in particular the allegorical 'Triumph' sculptures. The Bertos compositions that probably served as inspirations for Fasolato's Triumph of Truth over Calumny are those of Victory (both the Victoria and Albert and Art Institute of Chicago versions), Peace, War, The Vintage and, in particular, those representing Sculpture... and Painting... in the Prado (see Avery, op. cit. pp. 45-50). These bronzes, with their astonishing compositions and complex iconography -- each figure often carefully chosen as part of the allegorical message -- are all closely related to Fasolato's Triumph of Truth over Calumny. As Avery, again, notes, the uppermost female figure of Truth, reaching for the sun, is supported by the winged old man with an hourglass representing Time, at the base there is Minerva is spearing the dragon representing Envy or Calumny and additional figures representing Fire and Water and another with a cornucopia possibly representing the fruits of the sea.
For decades this iconic sculpture was thought to have been by Francesco Bertos, who pioneered these iconic compositions, but it has been convincingly re-attributed to Agostino Fasolato (1714-1787), who was a master carver following closely the ground-breaking work of Bertos. Fasolato, in fact, at times even exceeded Bertos in the refinement of his carved details. As Avery has noted, Fasolato clearly copied some of Bertos' compositions and 'improved upon' them, in particular the allegorical 'Triumph' sculptures. The Bertos compositions that probably served as inspirations for Fasolato's Triumph of Truth over Calumny are those of Victory (both the Victoria and Albert and Art Institute of Chicago versions), Peace, War, The Vintage and, in particular, those representing Sculpture... and Painting... in the Prado (see Avery, op. cit. pp. 45-50). These bronzes, with their astonishing compositions and complex iconography -- each figure often carefully chosen as part of the allegorical message -- are all closely related to Fasolato's Triumph of Truth over Calumny. As Avery, again, notes, the uppermost female figure of Truth, reaching for the sun, is supported by the winged old man with an hourglass representing Time, at the base there is Minerva is spearing the dragon representing Envy or Calumny and additional figures representing Fire and Water and another with a cornucopia possibly representing the fruits of the sea.