ROCCATAGLIATA, Nicolò

Numerous small bronzes of vastly varying quality have been attributed to Roccatagliata; if only a fraction of the music-making angels attributed to him actually came from his shop, it must have been a flourishing enterprise. Certainly by him are a seated Virgin and Child (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), as well as Adam and Eve and two music-making putti (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna).

Numerous small bronzes of vastly varying quality have been attributed to Roccatagliata; if only a fraction of the music-making angels attributed to him actually came from his shop, it must have been a flourishing enterprise. Certainly by him are a seated Virgin and Child (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), as well as Adam and Eve and two music-making putti (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna).

The bronze canopy on the altar of the sacristy of San Mois� was executed and signed by Niccolò Roccatagliata and his son Sebastiano. The work of this Genoese artist, a pupil of Cesare Groppo, is seen in Venice after 1594 in the production of small bronzes. The canopy, influenced by the work of Alessandro Vittoria and Girolamo Campagna, is an isolated case within Roccatagliata’s own production, both for its Counter-Reformation theme, and for the way the scene is articulated. The narrative focuses of the scene are arranged in an extremely turbulent composition.

The altar frontal in San Mois�, Roccatagliata’s last work, was entirely unknown before being given to that church in 1779 by Antonio Damiani. A very individual and intensely emotional work, it depicts an Allegory of the Redemption. On the right is a group of weeping women; among them stands St John, while above is a cascade of angels. In the bottom centre is Christ, whose massive body (completely out of proportion to the other figures) is covered, except for his head and right arm, by a swarm of angels who carry him to the tomb. Above, separated from the scene below by a diagonally held cross, floats a fierce God the Father supported by angels. At the left tower are two trees that shade the tomb, around which grieves a group of men, with one lone woman in the left corner. Space is compacted, almost non-existent.

The relief, which is one of the most extraordinary objects in 17th-century Venetian sculpture, combines Mannerist refinement of touch with Baroque emotionalism. It marks the first tentative advance of a Venetian relief sculptor into the territory of Baroque.

The picture shows the relief after restoration in 2011.

The Venetian Renaissance is carried on into the seventeenth century in the small bronze statuettes by Nicolò Roccatagliata, which are often charming, like this Bacchus, though totally devoid of the vitality so characteristic of Alessandro Vittoria.

The bronze statuette of Bacchus was made for an andiron. He stands, naked except for a girdle of vine leaves and grapes, his left foot forward, his right resting on a small barrel. His left hand is raised, holding a jug from which he is pouring wine into a (missing) cup held in his right hand. His head, crowned with vine leaves, is turned sharply to his left.

Roccatagliata’s known activity is confined to Venice. He is first documented here on 31 January 1593, when he was commissioned to make the bronze statuettes of St George and St Stephen, still on the entrance to the balustrade across the choir of San Giorgio Maggiore. This church was the centre of the artist’s activity in the 1590s: twenty-two sconces in the form of putti were commissioned in 1594, another six in 1595, and two large candelabra, cast by Cesare Groppo (active c. 1596) and Giovanni Alberghetti (active c. 1600) in 1598.

Roccatagliata’s known activity is confined to Venice. He is first documented here on 31 January 1593, when he was commissioned to make the bronze statuettes of St George and St Stephen, still on the entrance to the balustrade across the choir of San Giorgio Maggiore. This church was the centre of the artist’s activity in the 1590s: twenty-two sconces in the form of putti were commissioned in 1594, another six in 1595, and two large candelabra, cast by Cesare Groppo (active c. 1596) and Giovanni Alberghetti (active c. 1600) in 1598.

Numerous small bronzes of vastly varying quality have been attributed to Roccatagliata; if only a fraction of the music-making angels attributed to him actually came from his shop, it must have been a flourishing enterprise. Certainly by him are a seated Virgin and Child (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), as well as Adam and Eve and two music-making putti (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna).

Numerous small bronzes of vastly varying quality have been attributed to Roccatagliata; if only a fraction of the music-making angels attributed to him actually came from his shop, it must have been a flourishing enterprise. Certainly by him are a seated Virgin and Child (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), as well as Adam and Eve and two music-making putti (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna).

Numerous small bronzes of vastly varying quality have been attributed to Roccatagliata; if only a fraction of the music-making angels attributed to him actually came from his shop, it must have been a flourishing enterprise. Certainly by him are a seated Virgin and Child (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), as well as Adam and Eve and two music-making putti (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna).

Numerous small bronzes of vastly varying quality have been attributed to Roccatagliata; if only a fraction of the music-making angels attributed to him actually came from his shop, it must have been a flourishing enterprise. Certainly by him are a seated Virgin and Child (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), as well as Adam and Eve and two music-making putti (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna).

Numerous small bronzes of vastly varying quality have been attributed to Roccatagliata; if only a fraction of the music-making angels attributed to him actually came from his shop, it must have been a flourishing enterprise. Certainly by him are a seated Virgin and Child (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), as well as Adam and Eve and two music-making putti (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna).

Numerous small bronzes of vastly varying quality have been attributed to Roccatagliata; if only a fraction of the music-making angels attributed to him actually came from his shop, it must have been a flourishing enterprise. Certainly by him are a seated Virgin and Child (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), as well as Adam and Eve and two music-making putti (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna).

The base of this statue (height 29 cm) is decorated with putti.

Roccatagliata’s known activity is confined to Venice. He is first documented here on 31 January 1593, when he was commissioned to make the bronze statuettes of St George and St Stephen, still on the entrance to the balustrade across the choir of San Giorgio Maggiore. This church was the centre of the artist’s activity in the 1590s: twenty-two sconces in the form of putti were commissioned in 1594, another six in 1595, and two large candelabra, cast by Cesare Groppo (active c. 1596) and Giovanni Alberghetti (active c. 1600) in 1598.

Roccatagliata’s known activity is confined to Venice. He is first documented here on 31 January 1593, when he was commissioned to make the bronze statuettes of St George and St Stephen, still on the entrance to the balustrade across the choir of San Giorgio Maggiore. This church was the centre of the artist’s activity in the 1590s: twenty-two sconces in the form of putti were commissioned in 1594, another six in 1595, and two large candelabra, cast by Cesare Groppo (active c. 1596) and Giovanni Alberghetti (active c. 1600) in 1598.

Numerous small bronzes of vastly varying quality have been attributed to Roccatagliata.

Active in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century, Roccatagliata produced statues, altar decorations, and small bronze figures for use as door knockers or other decorative purposes.

Numerous small bronzes of vastly varying quality have been attributed to Roccatagliata; if only a fraction of the music-making angels attributed to him actually came from his shop, it must have been a flourishing enterprise. Certainly by him are a seated Virgin and Child (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), as well as Adam and Eve and two music-making putti (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna).

Numerous small bronzes of vastly varying quality have been attributed to Roccatagliata; if only a fraction of the music-making angels attributed to him actually came from his shop, it must have been a flourishing enterprise. Certainly by him are a seated Virgin and Child (Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York), as well as Adam and Eve and two music-making putti (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna).