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拍品专文
Charles III of Spain was also, during the course of his life, Charles I of Parma (through his mother Elisabeth Farnese), Charles VII of Naples, and Charles V of Sicily. With four older brothers, it was never thought that he would ascend to the Spanish throne, but due to their premature deaths he was proclaimed king in 1759. Considered a proponent of the Enlightenment, he is largely credited with transforming Spain from a collection of territories and kingdoms into a nation state.
This rare 18th century portrait in hardstone forms part of a long tradition of three-dimensional works of art produced by the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, the workshops set up under Ferdinando I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, in 1588. These works could range from raised decoration in the form of fruit, foliage or birds on hardstone caskets, to fully three-dimensional pieces such as the set of free-standing figures of the Four Evangelists in the Museo degli Argenti, Florence, dating to the 17th century (see Giusti, op. cit., no. 25, pp. 134-137). A luxuriant ex-voto panel depicting Cosimo II by Michele Castrucci, Gualtiero Cecchi and Jonas Falck has a similar ‘painterly’ quality to the present relief, despite being over a century earlier in date (ibid., no. 36, pp. 158-159)
The great Florentine hardstone carver in the late baroque era was Giuseppe Antonio Torricelli (1662-1719), whose celebrated creations include the bust of the Grand Duchess Vittoria della Rovere (ibid., no. 44, pp. 174-175). However, the present portrait of Charles III must post-date Torricelli’s death, and is likely to have been executed by a talented follower. The initials etched into the black background of the relief ‘MV’ may refer to the sculptor, or may be a collector’s mark.
This rare 18th century portrait in hardstone forms part of a long tradition of three-dimensional works of art produced by the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, the workshops set up under Ferdinando I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, in 1588. These works could range from raised decoration in the form of fruit, foliage or birds on hardstone caskets, to fully three-dimensional pieces such as the set of free-standing figures of the Four Evangelists in the Museo degli Argenti, Florence, dating to the 17th century (see Giusti, op. cit., no. 25, pp. 134-137). A luxuriant ex-voto panel depicting Cosimo II by Michele Castrucci, Gualtiero Cecchi and Jonas Falck has a similar ‘painterly’ quality to the present relief, despite being over a century earlier in date (ibid., no. 36, pp. 158-159)
The great Florentine hardstone carver in the late baroque era was Giuseppe Antonio Torricelli (1662-1719), whose celebrated creations include the bust of the Grand Duchess Vittoria della Rovere (ibid., no. 44, pp. 174-175). However, the present portrait of Charles III must post-date Torricelli’s death, and is likely to have been executed by a talented follower. The initials etched into the black background of the relief ‘MV’ may refer to the sculptor, or may be a collector’s mark.