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Attributed to Pompeo Leoni (Milan, circa 1533 - Madrid, 1608)
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Description
Attributed to Pompeo Leoni (Milan, circa 1533 - Madrid, 1608)
Magnificent ensemble in wrought, embossed, and chiselled silver with traces of gilding.
Measurements: 82 x 41 x 17 cm
Although made with different materials, there is a clear stylistic and iconographic relationship between this piece and the Christ from the main altarpiece of the Church of San Lorenzo in El Escorial by Pompeo Leoni, as well as the Crucified Christ (inv. E-268) from around 1605, which is housed in the Museum of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando. The latter work, whose authorship had long been debated—it was also attributed to Antón de Morales—was recently reattributed to Pompeo Leoni due to its undeniable and evident quality following the cleaning of its polychrome surface. This reattribution is discussed in the fascinating study "El Cristo crucificado de la Academia de San Fernando recuperado para Pompeo Leoni" published in Ars Magazine, by Alfonso Rodríguez G. de Ceballos, Emeritus Professor of Modern Art History at the Autonomous University of Madrid. In the article, Ceballos delves into the existing connection between the Academy's sculpture and the one in El Escorial. As we began by explaining, we associate both pieces with this magnificent Calvary in silver.
In this regard, as Ceballos explains in the Ars Magazine article, Leone Leoni and his son Pompeo created, in the gilded bronze Calvary of El Escorial, "a unique archetype that their collaborators and disciples would go on to replicate many times. The elder Leoni had already created, circa 1549—long before being commissioned to make the bronzes for the altarpiece in El Escorial—a sculptural group on an ebony base (measuring 110 x 33 cm), in which he anticipated on a small scale what would become the monumental Calvary that crowns the altarpiece of the royal monastery. The only difference was the absence of the figure of Mary Magdalene crouching at the foot of the Cross in the later version. The extraordinary beauty of the Crucified Christ and the harmonious figures of the Virgin and Saint John who accompany him had already captivated Guglielmo della Porta, who between 1575 and 1581 composed the same scene on a gilded silver plaque."
[...]
Naturally, this is the same formula repeated on a monumental scale in the Calvary of the El Escorial altarpiece, as well as in the altarpiece for the [...] Convent of San Diego in Valladolid, commissioned in 1605 from Pompeo, although this time the material changed from bronze to wood." In our view, Pompeo Leoni repeated this same archetype in the piece we have here—this time adapting it from bronze to gilded silver.
Focusing on his biography and artistic career, we draw from the Historia Hispánica portal (of the Royal Academy of History), which describes the artist as an Italian sculptor who established himself in Madrid and whose figure and personality, "linked to but independent from that of his father, are of particular interest due to the way they bridge Italy and Spain." His presence and artistic development "help to explain the unique conception of court sculpture, the symbolic imagery of power, and its role in the evolution of a specific genre like Spanish sculpture, contributing to a formal renewal with palpable consequences for the artists in his sphere of influence."
To understand Leoni’s impact and influence on Spanish and European religious imagery, we quote the conclusion of his biography in the Prado Museum’s official database: "Drawing from the work of Michelangelo—the genius who influenced all artists of his time—and from the study of classical antiquity, the Leonis, working between Milan and Madrid, along with Giambologna in Florence, became, during the second half of the 16th century and the early 17th century, the most important sculptural force that spread throughout Europe. They assumed a diplomatic and cultural prominence that has never since been surpassed."
Pompeo Leoni is, ultimately, a major figure in European sculptural art, whose creative skill is widely documented through a long, fruitful, and brilliant connection to the Spanish Court;
the establishment of a prolific workshop in Madrid, independent from his father's in Milan (though he frequently collaborated with his father until his death, at which point Pompeo completed some of his unfinished works); and a body of masterworks, such as the aforementioned pieces and the funerary sculptures of Princess Joanna of Portugal, the tomb of Inquisitor Valdés, and that of Cardinal Espinosa. According to art historian Manuel Arias Martínez in Historia Hispánica, these "are three true landmarks in the sculptural arts, confirming Pompeo Leoni's role as the most outstanding sculptor of Philip II’s reign."
His masterpiece, according to the Prado Museum, is "the mausoleums of Charles V and Philip II, located in the church of the monastery of El Escorial on either side of the main altar." He created them "with the collaboration of another Italian sculptor, Jacopo Nizzolo da Trezzo, and the renowned goldsmith Juan de Arfe," as his father had already passed away. Art historian Rosario Coppel Aréizaga notes for the Prado that "in these impressive sculptural groups, he returned to the style of his early sculptural work, linking back to the first series that had established both him and his father as the finest portrait sculptors of their time."
As for stylistic characteristics—which we observe in the piece we present, as well as in the two sculptures we compare it to—the artist's personal hallmark is best described by Arias Martínez in his article as: "an idealized naturalism, elegant and with clear classical undertones, executed with a high degree of technical skill that distinguished him as the quintessential court sculptor."
In October 2011, an international symposium was held at the Study Center of the Prado Museum, dedicated to the Leoni father and son. Titled "The Art of Leone and Pompeo Leoni: Their Sculptures in Madrid and El Escorial," it was directed by Professor Dr. Stephan Schröder and featured talks such as "The Calvary by Pompeo Leoni for the Main Altar of El Escorial" and "Pompeo Leoni and the Silver Portrait of Philip II in Vienna", delivered respectively by Rosemarie Mulcahy, Associate Professor at University College Dublin, and Claudia Kryza-Gersch, then curator at the Kunstkammer/Schatzkammer of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. Both lectures are highly relevant to the magnificent piece we present for auction.
References / Bibliography:
- Arias Martínez, Manuel. (s.f.). "Pompeo Leoni". Historia Hispánica. Real Academia de la Historia. https://historia-hispanica.rah.es/biografias/25669-pompeo-leoni
- Coppel Aréizaga, Rosario. (s.f.). "Leoni, Pompeo". Museo del Prado. https://www.museodelprado.es/aprende/enciclopedia/voz/leoni-pompeo/ec3f9df0-e2b9-48fc-b972-2315c1cc7ddd
- Rodríguez G. de Ceballos, Alfonso. (2013). "El Cristo crucificado de la Academia de San Fernando recuperado para Pompeo Leoni" in "Ars magazine: revista de arte y coleccionismo", Nº. 19 (pp. 56-66).
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Attributed to Pompeo Leoni (Milan, circa 1533 - Madrid, 1608)
Magnificent ensemble in wrought, embossed, and chiselled silver with traces of gilding.
Measurements: 82 x 41 x 17 cm
Although made with different materials, there is a clear stylistic and iconographic relationship between this piece and the Christ from the main altarpiece of the Church of San Lorenzo in El Escorial by Pompeo Leoni, as well as the Crucified Christ (inv. E-268) from around 1605, which is housed in the Museum of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando. The latter work, whose authorship had long been debated—it was also attributed to Antón de Morales—was recently reattributed to Pompeo Leoni due to its undeniable and evident quality following the cleaning of its polychrome surface. This reattribution is discussed in the fascinating study "El Cristo crucificado de la Academia de San Fernando recuperado para Pompeo Leoni" published in Ars Magazine, by Alfonso Rodríguez G. de Ceballos, Emeritus Professor of Modern Art History at the Autonomous University of Madrid. In the article, Ceballos delves into the existing connection between the Academy's sculpture and the one in El Escorial. As we began by explaining, we associate both pieces with this magnificent Calvary in silver.
In this regard, as Ceballos explains in the Ars Magazine article, Leone Leoni and his son Pompeo created, in the gilded bronze Calvary of El Escorial, "a unique archetype that their collaborators and disciples would go on to replicate many times. The elder Leoni had already created, circa 1549—long before being commissioned to make the bronzes for the altarpiece in El Escorial—a sculptural group on an ebony base (measuring 110 x 33 cm), in which he anticipated on a small scale what would become the monumental Calvary that crowns the altarpiece of the royal monastery. The only difference was the absence of the figure of Mary Magdalene crouching at the foot of the Cross in the later version. The extraordinary beauty of the Crucified Christ and the harmonious figures of the Virgin and Saint John who accompany him had already captivated Guglielmo della Porta, who between 1575 and 1581 composed the same scene on a gilded silver plaque."
[...]
Naturally, this is the same formula repeated on a monumental scale in the Calvary of the El Escorial altarpiece, as well as in the altarpiece for the [...] Convent of San Diego in Valladolid, commissioned in 1605 from Pompeo, although this time the material changed from bronze to wood." In our view, Pompeo Leoni repeated this same archetype in the piece we have here—this time adapting it from bronze to gilded silver.
Focusing on his biography and artistic career, we draw from the Historia Hispánica portal (of the Royal Academy of History), which describes the artist as an Italian sculptor who established himself in Madrid and whose figure and personality, "linked to but independent from that of his father, are of particular interest due to the way they bridge Italy and Spain." His presence and artistic development "help to explain the unique conception of court sculpture, the symbolic imagery of power, and its role in the evolution of a specific genre like Spanish sculpture, contributing to a formal renewal with palpable consequences for the artists in his sphere of influence."
To understand Leoni’s impact and influence on Spanish and European religious imagery, we quote the conclusion of his biography in the Prado Museum’s official database: "Drawing from the work of Michelangelo—the genius who influenced all artists of his time—and from the study of classical antiquity, the Leonis, working between Milan and Madrid, along with Giambologna in Florence, became, during the second half of the 16th century and the early 17th century, the most important sculptural force that spread throughout Europe. They assumed a diplomatic and cultural prominence that has never since been surpassed."
Pompeo Leoni is, ultimately, a major figure in European sculptural art, whose creative skill is widely documented through a long, fruitful, and brilliant connection to the Spanish Court;
the establishment of a prolific workshop in Madrid, independent from his father's in Milan (though he frequently collaborated with his father until his death, at which point Pompeo completed some of his unfinished works); and a body of masterworks, such as the aforementioned pieces and the funerary sculptures of Princess Joanna of Portugal, the tomb of Inquisitor Valdés, and that of Cardinal Espinosa. According to art historian Manuel Arias Martínez in Historia Hispánica, these "are three true landmarks in the sculptural arts, confirming Pompeo Leoni's role as the most outstanding sculptor of Philip II’s reign."
His masterpiece, according to the Prado Museum, is "the mausoleums of Charles V and Philip II, located in the church of the monastery of El Escorial on either side of the main altar." He created them "with the collaboration of another Italian sculptor, Jacopo Nizzolo da Trezzo, and the renowned goldsmith Juan de Arfe," as his father had already passed away. Art historian Rosario Coppel Aréizaga notes for the Prado that "in these impressive sculptural groups, he returned to the style of his early sculptural work, linking back to the first series that had established both him and his father as the finest portrait sculptors of their time."
As for stylistic characteristics—which we observe in the piece we present, as well as in the two sculptures we compare it to—the artist's personal hallmark is best described by Arias Martínez in his article as: "an idealized naturalism, elegant and with clear classical undertones, executed with a high degree of technical skill that distinguished him as the quintessential court sculptor."
In October 2011, an international symposium was held at the Study Center of the Prado Museum, dedicated to the Leoni father and son. Titled "The Art of Leone and Pompeo Leoni: Their Sculptures in Madrid and El Escorial," it was directed by Professor Dr. Stephan Schröder and featured talks such as "The Calvary by Pompeo Leoni for the Main Altar of El Escorial" and "Pompeo Leoni and the Silver Portrait of Philip II in Vienna", delivered respectively by Rosemarie Mulcahy, Associate Professor at University College Dublin, and Claudia Kryza-Gersch, then curator at the Kunstkammer/Schatzkammer of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. Both lectures are highly relevant to the magnificent piece we present for auction.
References / Bibliography:
- Arias Martínez, Manuel. (s.f.). "Pompeo Leoni". Historia Hispánica. Real Academia de la Historia. https://historia-hispanica.rah.es/biografias/25669-pompeo-leoni
- Coppel Aréizaga, Rosario. (s.f.). "Leoni, Pompeo". Museo del Prado. https://www.museodelprado.es/aprende/enciclopedia/voz/leoni-pompeo/ec3f9df0-e2b9-48fc-b972-2315c1cc7ddd
- Rodríguez G. de Ceballos, Alfonso. (2013). "El Cristo crucificado de la Academia de San Fernando recuperado para Pompeo Leoni" in "Ars magazine: revista de arte y coleccionismo", Nº. 19 (pp. 56-66).
Millésime 25 · 20th anniversary of La Suite Subastas
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