Lot Essay
This set of four wall-light is closely related to a design by Luigi Canonica from a series of plates entitled Progetti per Bracci per Candele (illustrated in E. Colle et al., Bronzi Decorativi in Italia: Bronzisti e Fonditori Italiani dal Seicento all'Ottocento, Electa, Milan, 2001, p. 246). Canonica (1764-1844) was a designer and architect active in the late 18th century and beginning of the 19th century. As many Milanese ornemanistes, he trained under Giocondo Albertolli, perhaps the leading Italian neo-classical designer of the second half of the 18th century. Among his numerous works, he is remembered for the stucco decoration designed for the Orsini family's palace executed circa 1787.