Girolamo Ticciati (1671-1744) Italian, Florence, first half 18th century

The noble Degli Alessandri family of Florence, their villa, Villa Alessandri, Petroio, near Empoli;
Conte Giovanni degli Alessandri, Empoli;
P & D Colnaghi & Co., Ltd., 1965;
with Heim Gallery, London (INV.NO.084/76);
Dr Arthur Mitchell Sackler (1913-1987), New York;
his sale, Sotheby's New York, Important European Terracotta and Bronze Sculpture from the Arthur M. Sackler collections including Drawings related to Sculpture, 29 January 2010, lot 472

London, P & D Colnaghi & Co., Ltd., Exhibition of seventeenth and eighteenth century Italian sculpture, 1965, no. 13;
Washington, New York and Cambridge, National Gallery of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Fingerprints of the artist: European terra-cotta sculpture from the Arthur M. Sackler collections, 1979-1982, no. 35;
New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, European Terracottas from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, 1981, no. 26

Exhibition of seventeenth and eighteenth century Italian sculpture, exh. cat. P & D Colnaghi & Co Ltd, London, 1965, no. 13, pl. XI;
C. Avery and A. Lang, Fingerprints of the artist: European terra-cotta sculpture from the Arthur M. Sackler collections, exh. cat., National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Washington D.C., 1981, no. 35;
J. D. Draper, European Terracottas from the Arthur M. Sackler Collections, exh. cat., Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1981, no. 26
S. Bellesi, Nuove acquisizioni alla scultura fiorentina dalla fine del cinquecento al settecento, in  Antichità viva, XXXI, 5/6, 1992, pp. 45, 47, 50 (n. 55)

Overall, the condition of the terracotta is very good, with minor dirt and wear to the surface consistent with age. There is a slip to the surface of the terracotta. There may be some restorations to the front king's proper right hand. There are dirt residues to the crevices. The fingers and thumb on the proper right hand of the standing king have been reattached. There appears to be restoration to the crevices behind the front king, and his attendant. There are also some restorations to the spears of the soldiers behind them. There may have also been some restoration to the stonework above the kneeling king's head. There may be a few small losses and restorations to the palm tree. There are a few small fissures in some of the crevices. The proper right index finger of the pointing figure standing above the Virgin is reattached. The reverse has been strengthened with the application of two layers of composite material/ adhesive, and there appears to be one or more horizontal metal struts running along the back.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

It is testament to John Winter's 'eye' that he was able to make discoveries in any context. Faced with a famous collection of terracotta sculpture he was still able to discover unappreciated attributions and associations.  Thus it was when he understood that two of the largest terracottas in the Arthur M. Sackler collection had been attributed to Girolamo Ticciati. Perhaps it was Ticciati's connections with the Ginori factory which intuitively attracted John to these impressive works.

In the continuing reassessment of sculpture from the late Baroque period, Ticciati is one of the artists who is emerging as a defined personality. He was the pupil of Giovanni Battista Foggini and is much indebted to his master's style. Recent publications on Ticciati have elucidated his central role in the intellectual life of Florence in the first half of the 18th century. He was a leading member of the Florentine learned society, La Colombaria (see Giannotti op. cit., pp. 105-22) and he was provveditore of the Accademia del Disegno (see Barzman, op. cit., pp. 126-139) and through these connections he was able to influence several sculptural commissions.

As a sculptor Ticciati was closely involved in the decoration of the Baptistry for which he executed the main altar, dismantled in 1912, and a series of marble reliefs of the life the Baptist, now in the Opera del Duomo. Giannotti described his style as in the vein of Giovanni Battista Caccini (op. cit., p. 105), whilst Montagu, in 1974, assessed his marbles as 'heavy, ill-proportioned and graceless' (Twilight of the Medici, p. 144). In the broad planes of drapery and flat perspective of the Baptistry marble reliefs Montagu's comment finds credence, however, Ticciati's bronzes and terracottas reveal a more accomplished artist. His figures of the Four Season's which exist in gilt bronzes mounted on the famous Badminton Cabinet in the Liechtenstein Collection, also produced in Doccia porcelain, and the bronze group of Christ and Woman of Samaria (Madrid, Patrimonio Nacional del Palacio de Oriente) are lively in pose and individual in characterisation. When working in terracotta Ticciati displays greater freedom in composition, more subtlety in low relief and introduces more incidental details, such as the mysterious figure on the far left of the Adoration of the Magi.

The Adoration of the Magi relief was in fact first published as by Girolamo Ticciati by Sandro Bellesi in 1992 (op. cit., p.45, fig. 19). Bellesi notes the affinities in the typology of the figures as well as in the dramatisation and vitality of the scenes with the important series of reliefs of the life of St Catherine de' Ricci in Prato (San Vincenzo). In particular close comparisons can be made with the treatment of the clouds and the drapery handled in broad folds in the relief on the high altar in Prato representing St Catherine de' Ricci with Christ descending from the cross.

Bellesi indicates a date in the 1730s for the Adoration of the Magi relief, but its ambitious narrative and fluency of modelling perhaps suggests a dating earlier in his career when he seems more Baroque in his approach.

RELATED LITERATURE
The Twilight of the Medici. Late Baroque Art in Florence 1670-1743, exh. cat. Detroit, Detroit Institute of Art, Florence, Palazzo Pitti, 1974, pp. 144-147
A. Giannotti, Girolamo Ticciati, scultore del Settecento, 'Atti e Memorie dell’Accademia della Colombaria', 1995, pp. 105-122; K. Barzman, The Florentine Academy and the Early Modern State. The discipline of Disegno, Cambridge, 2000