An Italian gilt bronze corpus, attributed to Francesco Terilli (active 1575 to 1621) first quarter 17th century, Veneto

This attribution is based upon comparisons with several wood crucifixes made by Francesco Terilli, a scuptor who worked in wood, ivory and bronze. Born in the Veneto, Terilli was documented in Venice by 1575.  A bronze standing figure of Christ in the Chiesa Redentore (Biasuz 1929, op. cit., p. 584) has a similar body type and facial features to the present bronze. Furthermore, the face of Terilli's St. John the Baptist with similarly arched eyebrows and pinched nose (Biasuz 1929, op. cit., p. 585) is also comparable.

Influenced by the work of Alessandro Vittoria, some of Terilli 's most important projects include:  the signed and dated pair of bronze figures of St. John the  Baptist and the Redeemer (1610; Venice, Chiesa del Redentore), an equestrian monument of Pompeo Giustiniani (Venice, SS Giovanni e Paolo), erected in 1616-17 at the request of the Venetian senate, a signed Virgin and Child (Arten, near Fonzaso, S. Gottardo)  and a Christ at the Column (Udine, Museo Civico). A pair of signed ivory figures of the Virgin and St. John are in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.

RELATED LITERATURE 

G. Biasuz, 'Francesco Terilli intagliatore e bronzista feltrino del sec. XVII', in Revista di Venezia, VII, no. 10, October 1929, pp. 583-593
G. Biasuz, Francesco Terilli, Feltre, 1988
S. Claut, Francesco Terilli ed altri scultori del legno nel Feltrino tra Rinascimento e Barocco (exh.cat.), 7th to 21st August, Feltre,1988