NORTH ITALIAN, PROBABLY PADUAN, EARLY 16TH CENTURY

The present oil lamp is almost certainly an element from a larger composition which is known in other examples that have previously been attributed to the workshop of Riccio. While such an attribution is unlikely, subsequent theories have oscillated between, simply, north Italian, mid 16th century, and workshop of Severo da Ravenna (see Sotheby's, London, 8 December 2006, lot 60). At present, it is impossible to make a definitive attribution for this oil lamp, but that said there can be no doubt that it sports the same finesse and depth of patination that is common to Severo's finer bronzes.