Italian, Naples, 18th century

The present bust surrounded by vivid flames finds parallels with a 17th-century Neapolitan wax relief of a damned soul by Giovanni Bernardino Azzolino in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London (inv. no. A.20-1982). Stylistically, the bust compares to a pair of Neapolitan busts sold in Sotheby's Paris, 7 November 2013, lot 157.