ATTRIBUTED TO MICHELE FABRIS, CALLED L'ONGARO (1644-1684), MID-17TH CENTURY

Michele Fabris, known as l'Ongaro due to his birth in Bratislava, seems to have come to Venice in around 1662 and trained under Melchior Barthel. The attribution of the present bust is based on its similarity to a number of documented works by Fabris including three full-length allegorical figures he carved for the Vendramin chapel in San Pietro di Castello, the former cathedral of Venice. The figure of Eloquence, for example, has a very similar facial type to the marble offered here, combined with the sloping shoulders, small breasts and distinctive treatment of the drapery (Bacchi, op. cit., fig. 359).