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拍品專文
These works represent a fine example of Bonzanigo’s famous micro sculpture, carved portrait panels in boxwood and ivory, and contribute to the artist’s esteemed reputation. Almost microscopic details - fanciful vases, flowers, foliage, putti and coin garlands spilling from cornucopia as well as the portrait medallions to the corners – can be found in a number of related micro-carvings and miniature frames by him including an intriguing relief-carved self-portrait of circa 1795 from the Guggenheim Collection in Venice (see C. Bertolotto and V. Villani (eds.), 'Giuseppe Maria Bonzanigo: Intaglio minuto e grande decorazione', Exhibition Catalogue, Venaria, 1989, p. 32).
The present pair has an uncommon composition, aesthetically more pleasing than most of his other portrait panels. While his sitters are usually centred within a myriad of ornament the present portraits are neo-classically inspired thereby enhancing their deified nature. Both lion-feet pedestals bear a putto, probably an allusion to Napoleon and Marie-Louise’s loving marriage. Two additional details, the obelisk and eagle-ornamented table, signify the Imperial usage of symbols from Antiquity, further amplifying the God-like aura of the two characters. The obelisk may also be a reference to Napoleon’s Egyptian campaign of 1798-1801, and the eagle, the symbol of the Grand Armée that surmounts the Imperial standard.
GIUSEPPE MARIA BONZANIGO
Giuseppe Maria Bonzanigo (d. 1820) was born in Asti and came from a family of wood carvers and ornamentalists. He moved to Turin in 1773 and worked for the Savoy Court for the next twenty years as a sculptor, wood-carver and cabinetmaker. In 1787, he was appointed wood carver to Victor Amadeus III, King of Sardinia, and remained in this position until the French invasion of 1796. Subsequently, Napoleon Bonaparte became another of his patrons. In 1793, he was admitted ad honorem to the Accademia Clementina in Bologna; he exhibited at the Salon de Paris in 1808. Similar works have achieved significant prices including a fruitwood portrait relief of Napoleon Bonaparte, sold Sotheby’s, Amsterdam, 27 March 2007, lot 1208 (€108,000), and an ivory and wood portrait relief of Maria Theresa of Austria, sold Sotheby’s, New York, 27 January 2011, lot 492 ($104,500).
The present pair has an uncommon composition, aesthetically more pleasing than most of his other portrait panels. While his sitters are usually centred within a myriad of ornament the present portraits are neo-classically inspired thereby enhancing their deified nature. Both lion-feet pedestals bear a putto, probably an allusion to Napoleon and Marie-Louise’s loving marriage. Two additional details, the obelisk and eagle-ornamented table, signify the Imperial usage of symbols from Antiquity, further amplifying the God-like aura of the two characters. The obelisk may also be a reference to Napoleon’s Egyptian campaign of 1798-1801, and the eagle, the symbol of the Grand Armée that surmounts the Imperial standard.
GIUSEPPE MARIA BONZANIGO
Giuseppe Maria Bonzanigo (d. 1820) was born in Asti and came from a family of wood carvers and ornamentalists. He moved to Turin in 1773 and worked for the Savoy Court for the next twenty years as a sculptor, wood-carver and cabinetmaker. In 1787, he was appointed wood carver to Victor Amadeus III, King of Sardinia, and remained in this position until the French invasion of 1796. Subsequently, Napoleon Bonaparte became another of his patrons. In 1793, he was admitted ad honorem to the Accademia Clementina in Bologna; he exhibited at the Salon de Paris in 1808. Similar works have achieved significant prices including a fruitwood portrait relief of Napoleon Bonaparte, sold Sotheby’s, Amsterdam, 27 March 2007, lot 1208 (€108,000), and an ivory and wood portrait relief of Maria Theresa of Austria, sold Sotheby’s, New York, 27 January 2011, lot 492 ($104,500).