Agostino Zoppo

The inscription on the corbel identifies the sitter of the present bust as Guido of Arezzo, the 11th-century Benedictine monk who is said to have invented modern seven-note musical notation. Though not a saint, Guido was considered one of the most important members of this order and was therefore depicted frequently among Benedictine circles.

In its strictly frontal, veristic and monumental conception, the bust recalls Venetian Renaissance portraiture by sculptors such as Danese Cattaneo (1512-1572) and Alessandro Vittoria (1525-1608). The treatment of the drapery and sumptuous rendering of the beard allow for an attribution of the present bust to the Paduan sculptor Agostino Zoppo. Known primarily for his output of small bronzes and all’antica sculpture, Zoppo was also prolific in the production of busts, as brought to light by recent scholarship. Bronze busts now attributed to the sculptor include the so-called Bust of a Jurist in the Frick Collection, New York (inv. no. 1916.2.47) and a Bust of a Gentleman in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (inv. no. 576-1865). Unusually for Zoppo’s known oeuvre, the present bust is sculpted in marble, thereby relating to the portrait of Tito Livio sculpted by Zoppo for the monument in the Palazzo della Ragione in Padua in 1547. Stylistically however the bust of Guido appears to be considerably later, comparing more closely to the bust in the Frick and the Bust of Matteo Forzadura in a private collection, which can be dated to the sculptor’s late activity after about 1560.

The present lot is the subject of an expertise by Andrea Bacchi.

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