Christ

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 wood, gilding, paint

Author

Roman School

Dating

Late 17th-early 18th century

Dimensions

29 x 9.3 x 8.5 cm.

Origin

Gorga Collection (1948)

Image copyright

SSPSAE e per il Polo Museale della città di Roma

Short description

This statuette 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. The work, on a moulded base, is gilded to simulate a metallic object, and depicts Christ as he appears to walk forward, his movement clear in the long tunic and mantle that cover him. In a gesture full of pathos he holds his left hand across his chest, while his right is outstretched as if to hold something. From a stylistic point of view the work, for its shape, size and function, as an ex-voto, can be set alongside the statuette of St. Paul, which is also held at Palazzo Venezia, and can be dated to Rome at the turn of the 18th century.

Grazia Maria Fachechi 

Bibliography

Unpublished