Printed from Woolley & Wallis

Description

AN IMPORTANT ITALIAN CARVED MARBLE MODEL OR MAQUETTE OF POPE CLEMENT XII

BY PIETRO BRACCI (ROME 1700-1773), C.1736

after the original bronze portrait of Pope Clement XII Corsini which graced the Great Hall of the Palazzo Nuovo on the Capitoline, the Pope modelled enthroned wearing a triregnum and a cloak with fine relief carved decoration, the architectural throne decorated with winged cherubs and scrolls, signed to the right side 'P. Bracci, Rom. F.', in weathered condition

68cm high, 42cm wide, 41.5cm deep

A NEWLY DISCOVERED MARBLE PORTRAIT OF POPE CLEMENT XII

This remarkable marble model of Pope Clement XII Corsini is identical to a lost bronze version that was sculpted by Bracci in 1736 and subsequently cast in bronze by Francesco Giardoni. The bronze was initially placed in the Great Hall of the Palazzo Nuovo in the Campidoglio, opposite a portrait of Pope Innocent X by Alessandro Algardi and a bust of Pope Urban VIII Barberini by Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Thence it was transferred to the Hall of the Horatii and Curiatii in the Palazzo dei Conservatori where it was melted down in 1798 during the First Italian Republic. The only surviving visual document of the bronze was thought to be an engraving by Stefano and Rocco Pozzi, until the discovery of our marble figure. There is known to be only two examples of the engraving, one can be found in Rome in the Cabinet of Prints, the other in collection of the Royal Art Gallery in Dresden.

The Commission

The portrait of Pope Clement XII (Lorenzo Corsini, 1652–1740) should be understood within the remarkable programme of artistic, architectural, and civic renewal that characterised his pontificate. Elected pope in 1730 at the age of seventy-eight, Clement XII governed Rome for a decade, during which he promoted extensive building projects and greatly strengthened the cultural importance of the Capitoline Hill. Beyond the Capitoline Museums, Clement XII's architectural patronage included the new façade of San Giovanni in Laterano, the Palazzo della Consulta on the Quirinal, the restoration of the Arch of Constantine, improvements to Rome's streets and roads, and the initiation of the Trevi Fountain. He also commissioned the magnificent Corsini Chapel in the Lateran, intended to house his tomb.

His most significant achievement in relation to the Campidoglio was the establishment of the Capitoline Museums as a public museum. In 1733 Clement XII acquired the celebrated antiquities collection of Cardinal Alessandro Albani, using funds derived in part from the papal lottery, and in 1734 the Palazzo Nuovo was opened as a museum. This transformed the Campidoglio into a major centre for the public appreciation of Rome's ancient artistic heritage. The acquisition was particularly significant because it prevented a major private collection from leaving Rome and placed its contents in public ownership.

It was in this context that Pietro Bracci was commissioned to execute a bronze portrait of Pope Clement XII, commemorating the pope’s donation to the Capitoline Museums. The sculpture was funded by the Roman Senate and followed a successful marble portrait of Clement XII that Bracci had produced for the city of Ravenna. Clement had played an important role in the development of Ravenna, commissioning the construction of the Candiano Canal, which linked the city to the sea, and promoting the development of its port. The marble was originally installed in the Piazza del Popolo, before subsequently being moved to the Chiostro di San Vitale, where it remains today.

Pietro Bracci and Pope Clement XII

The relationship between Pietro Bracci and Pope Clement XII was closely bound to the artistic and cultural ambitions of Clement's pontificate. Bracci emerged as one of the leading sculptors working in Rome during the 1730s, a period of exceptional papal patronage in which Clement XII promoted an ambitious programme of architectural renewal and, most significantly for the sculptor, established the Capitoline collections as a public museum.

Bracci's portraits of Clement formed an important part of this programme. He began a marble statue of the pope in 1733, which was subsequently sent to Ravenna in 1738, where it was installed in the Piazza del Popolo and is now preserved in the Museo Nazionale. By 1736, Bracci had begun modelling a closely related version in preparation for its casting in bronze for the Campidoglio. The two monuments share the same fundamental conception, although Bracci adapted the composition of the Capitoline version to the requirements of bronze and its architectural setting.

The portraits can therefore be understood not merely as representations of Clement XII, but as monuments to his patronage. The Capitoline bronze, in particular, commemorated Clement's transformation of the Campidoglio and his foundation of the public museum. Its inscription celebrated his building projects and, above all, his enrichment of the Capitoline collections. Bracci's involvement extended beyond portraiture: during the same period he undertook important restorations of ancient sculpture associated with the collections, including the Capitoline Antinous.

Bracci's portraits thus occupy a significant position within Clement XII's artistic legacy. They present the pope as both ecclesiastical sovereign and civic benefactor, while Bracci's participation in the project reflects his increasingly prominent role in the sculptural culture of eighteenth-century Rome.

Pietro Bracci (1700-1773)

Pietro Bracci was one of the leading sculptors of eighteenth-century Rome, working within the late Baroque tradition while developing a distinctive style characterised by animated movement, rich surface treatment and a strongly pictorial handling of marble. He probably trained under Camillo Rusconi becoming an important sculptor of papal Rome and was particularly active during the pontificate of Clement XII (1730–1740). Among his most significant early commissions include: the relief of the Miracle of Saint Andrew Corsini for the Corsini Chapel in San Giovanni in Laterano, and the sculpture for the tomb of Pope Benedict XIII in Santa Maria sopra Minerva. He subsequently produced major funerary monuments, including those of Maria Clementina Sobieski in St Peter's and Cardinal Giuseppe Renato Imperiali in Sant'Agostino. His later career included important commissions for St Peter's, notably the monument to Pope Benedict XIV.

Bracci is best known today for the monumental figure of Oceanus, with the accompanying Tritons and sea horses, at the centre of the Trevi Fountain. Working from the designs of Nicola Salvi and the modello of Giovanni Battista Maini, Bracci executed the marble group between 1759 and 1762, creating one of the defining sculptural ensembles of the late Roman Baroque.

Literature

Pesci Gradara, 'Pietro Bracci, Scultore Romano 1700-1773, 1920.

Elisabeth Kieven and John Pinto, 'Pietro Bracci and Eighteenth-Century Rome-Drawings for Architecture and Sculpture in the Canadian Centre for Architecture and other Collections', 2001.

 

With thanks to Professor John A. Pinto for his assistance in cataloguing this lot.