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Lot Essay
The similarities in posture, costume and gesture of the present figure to a pair of bronze angels from the Altar of the Nicopeia in San Marco, Venice, suggest that the present attribution to Sebastian Nicolini is convincing. Nicolini was the son of the sculptor Nicolo Roccatagliata, who was a leading figure in the production of bronze figures in Venice in the early seventeenth century. The Abbott Guggenheim Angel was previously attributed to Girolamo Campagna by Camins in 1988, primarily due to a comparison with another group of angels made in 1615-1617 by Campagna for the tabernacle on the Altar of S. Lorenzo in Venice. However recent studies by Kryza-Gersch and Avery (locs. cit.) have helped unravel the previously muddled understanding of Venetian bronze output of the period, and brought the playful works of Nicolini to light.
Two sets of filled holes on the back of the present bronze and another one in the right hand suggest that the Guggenheim Angel formerly had a pair of wings and used to hold an object, possibly an instrument of the passion. In her recent book on Venetian bronzes, Avery linked the pair of angels at San Marco to the Ponte delle Ancore foundry and highlighted that various documents date them to 1617-1618. Avery also argued that while the angels are inscribed with the initials of the the caster Bettarol of San Salvador (B.B.F.), Sebastian Nicolini was commissioned to create the models. The comparable facture of the present figure suggests that it is possible that it too could have been cast in the workshop of Bettarol.
Two sets of filled holes on the back of the present bronze and another one in the right hand suggest that the Guggenheim Angel formerly had a pair of wings and used to hold an object, possibly an instrument of the passion. In her recent book on Venetian bronzes, Avery linked the pair of angels at San Marco to the Ponte delle Ancore foundry and highlighted that various documents date them to 1617-1618. Avery also argued that while the angels are inscribed with the initials of the the caster Bettarol of San Salvador (B.B.F.), Sebastian Nicolini was commissioned to create the models. The comparable facture of the present figure suggests that it is possible that it too could have been cast in the workshop of Bettarol.