Head of a Bearded Man (St. Peter? St. Joseph?)

Object belonging

One's own

Category

Wood sculpture

City

Rome

Location

Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia

Specific location

Store

Inventory

s.n.

Material and technique

Sculpted and carved wood, paint

Author

Roman School

Dating

18th century

Dimensions

29 x 17 x 21 cm.

Origin

Gorga Collection (1948)

Image copyright

SSPSAE e per il Polo Museale della città di Roma

Short description

This sculpture came from the collection of the opera singer Gennaro Evangelista (called Evan) Gorga, which was given to the Italian state in 1948 and was intended for the most part for the Palazzo Venezia museum. Identified by the number 217 in Gorga’s collection, the work depicts the head of a man, who can be identified as a saint by the hole on his head, into which a halo would have been inserted. He has a beard and short, curly white hair, with a long neck, underneath which the base has been hollowed out, perhaps so as to fix in onto a pin. The clean cut of the base suggests it is a complete work, not a fragment of a larger statue. It is difficult to identify the subject of the piece (St. Peter or St. Joseph perhaps), whose artisanal style can be situated in 18th century Rome.

Grazia Maria Fachechi 

Bibliography

Unpublished