A carved marble bust of Doge Francesco Morosini, called the Peloponnesian (Venice, 1619 – Nauplia, 1694), Italian, late 19th century, after Filippo Parodi (1630 - 1702) | Buste en marbre du doge Francesco Morosini, dit le Péloponnésien, Italie, fin du XIXe siècle, d'après Filippo Parodi (1630 - 1702)

This bust depicting the Doge Francesco Morosini is a marble reduction after the Doge's monumental bust executed by Filippo Parodi in 1687. Two versions of Parodi's bust exist: one in bronze, in the Palazzo Ducale in Venice, and one in marble at the Museo Correr Venice. Count Giuseppe Volpi would be attracted by this extraordinary Venetian figure and one of his first property acquisitions was the Villa Morosini in Treviso in 1902, which belonged to the Doge.

Francesco Morosini (1619 – 1694)

Francesco Morosini’s brilliant military career culminated in 1688, with his election as Doge of Venice. He was a genius, never defeated, of the naval strategy and of amphibian operations, he was appointed admiral of the Serenissima navy (Capitano Generale de Mar) four times. His victorious maritime campaigns against the Ottoman Empire are the counterpart of the military action of Eugenio di Savoia, who won the assault of Vienna. The conquest of all the major strategic strongholds in the Aegean Sea led the Senate to commission in 1687 the celebrative bronze bust monument of the sculptor Filippo Parodi to be placed at the armoury in the Ducal Palace in Venice. This is a unique case of a sculptural commemorative monument in Venice, breaking the secular rule of the Serenissima, that forbade the celebration of a living admiral with a public sculpture.

Filippo Parodi (1630 – 1702)

Filippo Parodi was Genoa’s Bernini, who brought to northern Italy the revolution of naturalism in sculpture, proliferated by the Roman genius. Around 1678, he was in Venice working at the service of the Venetian aristocracy. In 1687 the Serenissima Senate commissioned him to sculpt two celebrative busts of the Doge Francesco Morosini.

Related literature: I. Cacciavillani, Francesco Morosini, Venezia, 1996.