After Giovanni Bonazza

This extraordinary figure set in an oval shape and carved in high relief personifies a River God. The figure's long beard and hair decorated with a headband compares to the River Gods sculpted by Giambologna for the Fontana dell'Isolotto in the Boboli Gardens, of which terracotta models are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv. nos. 17.190.2091 and 17.190.2090). The God sits on a rocky river bed with aquatic plants to the right side and a mountainous landscape carved on the background of the relief.

The figure is carved after works by the Baroque Venetian artist, Giovanni Bonazza, characterised by bulging volume and contorted shapes. The relief entirely follows the same concept and shape of a complete series of four panels personifying the winds, Aeolus, Boreas, Zephyrus, and Eurus attributed to Bonazza by Dr Maichol Clemente, which were included in Sotheby’s London, 9 July 2015, lot 156. Clear parallels can be drawn to the relief of Eurus in this series, who is personified by a contemplative old, bearded man with long hair; the overall pose of the figure and distinct facial hair is similar.

RELATED LITERATURE

V. Cartari, Le Imagini de i dei de gli antichi, Venice, 1580, pp. 260-261; D. Banzato et al., Dal medioevo a Canova. Sculture dei Musei Civici di Padova dal Trecento all’Ottocento, Venice, 2000, pp. 163-166, nos. 90-91