Attributed to Francesco Mochi (1580 - 1654), Rome, second half of the 17th century

Mrs. Marella Agnelli collection, New York ;

Her sale, Sotheby’s New York, 23 October 2004, lot 111 ;

Italian private collection.

These two figures, with their astonishing compositions, are part of the flourishing production of Roman Baroque gilt bronze statuettes, promoted in particular by the proliferation of tabernacles and altarpieces decorated with figures of angels, saints and prophets. One of the earliest Roman examples of this peculiar kind of tabernacle is Jacob Cobaert's masterpiece, commissioned for Saint-Louis-des-Français, in the last quarter of the 16th century (see J. Montagu, op. cit., pp. 35-46). Thus, in the present figures of Men Running, we find a precision of casting and a degree of finish comparable to those of Cobaert's Saint Louis and Prophets. These gilt bronze statuettes feature similar finishing of the surfaces, entirely worked with chiselling, resulting in remarkably refined textural effects.

The contorted bodies of these two male figures and their eminently dramatic expressions, emphasised by the theatrical movement of the drapery, indicate the work of a transitional sculptor, initiated into the formulas of late Mannerism and turned towards the early Baroque in Rome. A parallel can be drawn between these models and those of Francesco Mochi, such as the dramatic Saint Veronica in St. Peter's, Rome (c. 1629-40), and the energetic Angel of the Annunciation group in Orvieto (circa 1603-08; Museo dell'Opera del Duomo), or the fiery equestrian portraits of Alessandro Farnese (circa 1622-25; Piazza Cavalli, Piacenza) and Carlo Barberini (circa 1630; Palazzo Barberini, Rome). The spectacular drapery in the present figures is reminiscent of that in these two monuments. In addition, the strange attitude of these Running Men, particularly the supernatural length of their strides, is strikingly reminiscent of the two figures in the marble group of the Gioco del Saccomazzone (a typical Tuscan variant of blind man's buff) in the Boboli Gardens, Florence, the work of Orazio Mochi (1571 – 1625), completed by Romolo del Tadda (1544 – 1621). We can easily imagine that Francesco was inspired by his father's model in the creation of these figures.

The tormented attitudes of these men grimacing with fear, their mouths open in a cry of terror, their eyes wide open staring at the threat looming over them, are similar to other Roman Baroque allegorical figures of Heresy and Vices struck down by Religion. Indeed, the backward movement of the upper body and arms, counteracting the forward momentum of their long strides, introduces, beyond their frantic running, a sense of flight or fall.

Identical gilt bronze figures were sold at Sotheby's London, on 5 July 2000 (lot 38) and 12 December 2003 (lot 208). The present pair of bronzes belonged to Mrs. Marelli Agnelli, in her Park Avenue apartment decorated by Renzo Mongiardino and Peter Marino.

RELATED LITERATURE

J. Montagu, ‘A Model by Francesco Mochi for the St. Veronica’ in Burlington, April 1982, pp. 434-38;

J. Montagu, Gold, Silver and Bronze, Metal Sculpture of the Roman Baroque, London, 1996, figs. 63-65;

Francesco Mochi 1580-1654, exh. cat., Florence, 1981.