Grotesque Figure Holding a Scroll

Object belonging

One's own

Category

Wood sculpture

City

Rome

Location

Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia

Specific location

Store

Inventory

PV 00092

Material and technique

Sculpted and carved chestnut wood, paint

Author

Roman School

Dating

Mid-15th century

Dimensions

55.7 x 26.8 x 23 cm.

Origin

Costanza Gallegos; Regia Galleria d'Arte Antica in Palazzo Corsini (1919)

Image copyright

SSPSAE e per il Polo Museale della città di Roma

Short description

This work, a sculpture for a roof beam, depicts a man carrying a scroll, held out in crescent form in front of himself, and forms a pair with the very similar work identified with inv. no. PV 93. These works, together with another pair of heads (PV 2306 and 2307), were said by Hermanin to have come “from an old house, pulled down in 1833 in the medieval quarter than runs between Campo di Fiori and the Ghetto” (1920) or, more precisely, “from a medieval house demolished towards the end of the 19th century near San Paolino alla Regola (1948); they were attributed to a Roman sculptor, similar in style to the author of the Madonna d’Acuto (1920), and to a Roman carver of the 14th century (1948). Santangelo, though, separates the two pairs, believing them to be realized by different sculptors and places them in the mid-15th century (1954). This piece was initially recorded at the Reale Galleria d’Arte Antica in Rome and re-catalogued as a work belonging to Palazzo Venezia in 1919. Scientific analysis carried out in 2009 by IVALSA-CNR in Florence identified the wood used as chestnut (castanea sativa), which was used in the majority of medieval houses between Rome and Naples. For a study of the various typologies of wooden ceiling sculptures, see Soffitti lignei: convegno internazionale di studi (Pavia 2001), ed. L. Giordano, Pisa 2005.

Bibliography

F. Hermanin, Sculture medioevali romane, in "Dedalo", 1, 1920 pp. 221-222; F. Hermanin, Il Palazzo di Venezia. Museo e grandi sale, Bologna 1925, pp. 30-31; F. Hermanin, Il Palazzo di Venezia, Rome 1948, pp. 265-266; A. Santangelo (ed.), Museo di Palazzo Venezia. Catalogo delle sculture, Rome 1954, pp. 65-66