Lot Essay
Manzù made his first drawing of a cardinal in 1934. In the early 1940's, he began a series of sculptures based on this subject, which was to become the dominant theme of his post-war work. Although Manzù executed dozens of bronze and stone cardinals over the course of his career, the present version is among the largest of the series.
Manzù's cardinals are renowned as timeless symbols of the mysteries of the Church. The figures are almost completely enveloped in their generously draped vestments, each one isolated, self-contained. The monumental simplicity of the cardinals, achieved through careful modeling and economy of line, only serves to enhance their mystical presence. As John Rewald wrote in his monograph on Manzù:
When asked, the artist always stresses that the cardinals did not interest him as a typically religious theme but represented for him more the character of a still life...so that no deeper significance should be attached to them than to a plate of apples, for example. He even likes to add that he might just as easily have represented matadors. There were, however, no bullfights in Bergamo whereas the boy often met church dignitaries. Their visual impression became an inspiration for him, a problem of artistic creation which, so to
speak, pursued him for years. For a long time the mitred priests
enveloped in canonicals had ceased to be connected with his personal religious beliefs; his youthful memories were always concerned with the picturesque garments, curious vestige of a splendor-loving past. Now Manzù proved with his statues that this clothing was not only "picturesque" but also eminently "statuesque." (J. Rewald, Manzù, Greenwich, England, 1976, p. 59)
Nathan and Joanne Toor Cummings were acquainted with Manzù and acquired several works directly from him. Around the time that they purchased the present work, they commissioned Manzù to sculpt a bronze bust of Mrs. Cummings, which has been bequeathed to Connecticut College.
Manzù's cardinals are renowned as timeless symbols of the mysteries of the Church. The figures are almost completely enveloped in their generously draped vestments, each one isolated, self-contained. The monumental simplicity of the cardinals, achieved through careful modeling and economy of line, only serves to enhance their mystical presence. As John Rewald wrote in his monograph on Manzù:
When asked, the artist always stresses that the cardinals did not interest him as a typically religious theme but represented for him more the character of a still life...so that no deeper significance should be attached to them than to a plate of apples, for example. He even likes to add that he might just as easily have represented matadors. There were, however, no bullfights in Bergamo whereas the boy often met church dignitaries. Their visual impression became an inspiration for him, a problem of artistic creation which, so to
speak, pursued him for years. For a long time the mitred priests
enveloped in canonicals had ceased to be connected with his personal religious beliefs; his youthful memories were always concerned with the picturesque garments, curious vestige of a splendor-loving past. Now Manzù proved with his statues that this clothing was not only "picturesque" but also eminently "statuesque." (J. Rewald, Manzù, Greenwich, England, 1976, p. 59)
Nathan and Joanne Toor Cummings were acquainted with Manzù and acquired several works directly from him. Around the time that they purchased the present work, they commissioned Manzù to sculpt a bronze bust of Mrs. Cummings, which has been bequeathed to Connecticut College.