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Lot Essay
COMPARATIVE LITERATURE:
F. Ferretti, Diporti Notturni..., Ancona, 1579.
Sir G. Hill, 'On the Technique of the Renaissance Medal,' Burlington Magazine, 1917.
S. Pettenati, Giovanni Battista Capocaccia, scultore e medaglista ...: Città di Torina, Assessorato per la cultura, Musei Civici, Turin, 1989.
Pope Pius V must have considered this jewel-like relief portrait -- hidden inside its rich binding -- one of the most precious and, at the same time, delightful treasures of his library. The man kneeling at his feet has been identified as his secretary, Teodosio Fiorenzi, based on an unpublished portrait of the Marchigian prelate, later the Bishop of Osimo (see Dabell, forthcoming).
Giorgo Vasari (1511 - 74), the great chronicler of the Italian Renaissance, almost certainly mentions this relief in his Vite of 1567: 'Parimente i lavori di stucchi... si fanno oggi di tutta perfezione ed ultimamente Mario Capocaccia Anconetano ha fatti di stucchi di colore in scatolette, ritratti e teste veramente bellisime; come sono un ritratto di papa Pio V, ch'io vidi non ha molto, e quello del Cardinale Alessandrino'. Vasari mentions that Capocaccia's first name was Mario when in fact it is Giovanni Battista and, sadly the portrait of the cardinal has disappeared. The relief and binding can be precisely dated as they would have been commissioned between January 7, 1566, the date of Pius V's election and 1567, the publication of Vasari's Vite.
Capocaccia was so highly regarded by his contemporaries that he was referred to as immortal. According to Ferretti, he was 'arrichito di fama, et dalla virtuosa diligentissima sua industria di sculpire et collorire ritraendo dal naturale in stucco non solamente immagini private ma l'intiere historie, con sottile inventione & arte mirabile che con l'altre sue signalate giuditiose & destrissime conditioni lo fanno immortale'. The extreme rarity of his work only makes the present relief more exceptional, and it is the only one signed. Besides the present relief, there is a another polychrome wax relief that has been attributed to Capocaccia and dated 1566 - 1677, and has recently been bequeathed to the Museo Civico, Turin. This relief also includes a portrait of the Pope and depicts The Magdalen interceding with the Virgin and Child on behalf of Cardinal Michele Bonelli through the prayers of Pius V and, as Dabell notes, corresponds temptingly to a work in the Medici collection, listed in an inventory of the Tribuna of the Uffizi in 1589 (see Pettenati and Dabell). A third, multi-portrait wax relief, is in an Italian private collection and there are several other possible reliefs that with further research (see Dabell). There are also several vesions of the Ancona medal that are signed and dated 1581 (one is in the British Museum and the other in Diocesan Museum, Ancona).
The rich colors and precise and sensitive modeling of the relief are perfectly preserved. Despite some flaked losses the material was extremely durable. Hill, (op. cit.), describes how 'gypsum and resin were mixed with the wax which was used for the so-called stucco-reliefs and portraits, by people like Capocaccia, which became popular in the second half of the sixteenth century, and from which medals could be cast...'
There appears to be little doubt the binding was done by the Vatican Bindery as the border on this box is identical with the version attributed by Dr. Schunke to the 'Vatikanische Meister', Hobson's Nicolò Franzese (Breslauer and Grieb, op. cit., p. 37).
This work is the subject of a forthcoming article on Capocaccia by Frank Dabell, who has identified the sitter kneeling before Pius V as his secretary Teodosio Fiorenzi.
Christie's is grateful to Mr. Dabell for his help in cataloguing the present lot.
F. Ferretti, Diporti Notturni..., Ancona, 1579.
Sir G. Hill, 'On the Technique of the Renaissance Medal,' Burlington Magazine, 1917.
S. Pettenati, Giovanni Battista Capocaccia, scultore e medaglista ...: Città di Torina, Assessorato per la cultura, Musei Civici, Turin, 1989.
Pope Pius V must have considered this jewel-like relief portrait -- hidden inside its rich binding -- one of the most precious and, at the same time, delightful treasures of his library. The man kneeling at his feet has been identified as his secretary, Teodosio Fiorenzi, based on an unpublished portrait of the Marchigian prelate, later the Bishop of Osimo (see Dabell, forthcoming).
Giorgo Vasari (1511 - 74), the great chronicler of the Italian Renaissance, almost certainly mentions this relief in his Vite of 1567: 'Parimente i lavori di stucchi... si fanno oggi di tutta perfezione ed ultimamente Mario Capocaccia Anconetano ha fatti di stucchi di colore in scatolette, ritratti e teste veramente bellisime; come sono un ritratto di papa Pio V, ch'io vidi non ha molto, e quello del Cardinale Alessandrino'. Vasari mentions that Capocaccia's first name was Mario when in fact it is Giovanni Battista and, sadly the portrait of the cardinal has disappeared. The relief and binding can be precisely dated as they would have been commissioned between January 7, 1566, the date of Pius V's election and 1567, the publication of Vasari's Vite.
Capocaccia was so highly regarded by his contemporaries that he was referred to as immortal. According to Ferretti, he was 'arrichito di fama, et dalla virtuosa diligentissima sua industria di sculpire et collorire ritraendo dal naturale in stucco non solamente immagini private ma l'intiere historie, con sottile inventione & arte mirabile che con l'altre sue signalate giuditiose & destrissime conditioni lo fanno immortale'. The extreme rarity of his work only makes the present relief more exceptional, and it is the only one signed. Besides the present relief, there is a another polychrome wax relief that has been attributed to Capocaccia and dated 1566 - 1677, and has recently been bequeathed to the Museo Civico, Turin. This relief also includes a portrait of the Pope and depicts The Magdalen interceding with the Virgin and Child on behalf of Cardinal Michele Bonelli through the prayers of Pius V and, as Dabell notes, corresponds temptingly to a work in the Medici collection, listed in an inventory of the Tribuna of the Uffizi in 1589 (see Pettenati and Dabell). A third, multi-portrait wax relief, is in an Italian private collection and there are several other possible reliefs that with further research (see Dabell). There are also several vesions of the Ancona medal that are signed and dated 1581 (one is in the British Museum and the other in Diocesan Museum, Ancona).
The rich colors and precise and sensitive modeling of the relief are perfectly preserved. Despite some flaked losses the material was extremely durable. Hill, (op. cit.), describes how 'gypsum and resin were mixed with the wax which was used for the so-called stucco-reliefs and portraits, by people like Capocaccia, which became popular in the second half of the sixteenth century, and from which medals could be cast...'
There appears to be little doubt the binding was done by the Vatican Bindery as the border on this box is identical with the version attributed by Dr. Schunke to the 'Vatikanische Meister', Hobson's Nicolò Franzese (Breslauer and Grieb, op. cit., p. 37).
This work is the subject of a forthcoming article on Capocaccia by Frank Dabell, who has identified the sitter kneeling before Pius V as his secretary Teodosio Fiorenzi.
Christie's is grateful to Mr. Dabell for his help in cataloguing the present lot.