Winter Allegory - Lot 169

Winter Allegory Italy, Rome, 19th century, after a model by Camillo Rusconi (1658-1728) Terracotta; height 50 cm This charming allegorical terracotta depicting Winter, typical of the Roman characteristic of Roman Baroque, is based on one of the four putti putti representing the Seasons, created around 1692-1695 by the sculptor Camillo Rusconi (now in the Royal Collection at Windsor Castle; inv. Castle; height 73cm; inv. no. RCIN 71425). A pupil of Ercole Ferrata (1610-1686), Rusconi created The Four Seasons commissioned by the Manche banker Niccolò Maria Pallavicini (1650-1714), patron of the arts in Baroque Rome baroque Rome. After Pallavicini's death, the sculptures were transported to England and acquired in 1723-1725 by George I for his palace in Kensington. The marbles were a great success, as evidenced by their inclusion in in a number of museum collections: in addition to Winter at Windsor Castle, a smaller terracotta version can be found at the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, and a bozzetto, a terracotta sketch, is in the is kept at the Palazzo Venezia in Rome (inv. no. 146328). Bibliographical references - Ch. Avery, Fingerprints of the artist: European terracotta sculpture from the Arthur Sackler collections, Washington D.C., 1981, cat. 25 & 26. - R. Engass, Early Eighteenth Sculpture in Rome, Pennsylvania State University press, 1976, pp. 92 - 93. - M. G. Barberini, Sculture in Terracotta del Barocco Romano. Bozzetti e modelli del museo nationale del Palazzo di Venezia, cat. exp. Rome, 1991-1992, p. 66