Beni Culturali Soprintendenza Speciale per il Patrimonio Storico Artistico ed Etnoantropologico per il Polo Museale della città di Roma

Door Knocker with Neptune and Two Lions

Picchiotto con Nettuno - Door knocker with Neptune
Object belonging
One's own
Category
Bronze sculpture
City
Rome
Location
Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia
Specific location
Room 16
Inventory
PV 09310
Material and technique
Bronze with high relief, natural dark patina, traces of opaque black lacquer
Author
Niccolò Roccatagliata (studio?)
Dating
Late 16th century (?)
Dimensions
38 x 26 x 9 cm.
Origin
Barsanti Collection (1934)
Image copyright
SSPSAE e per il Polo Museale della città di Roma

Short description

Santangelo believed that this bronze was a variant of the knocker depicting Neptune and the Seahorses, variously attributed to either Alessandro Vittoria, his studio or an anonymous Venetian artist at the end of the 16th century. In the Palazzo Venezia version, a pair of frightful lions takes the place of the seahorses, placed either side of Neptune. The lions appear incongruous, though, next to the sea god and do not appear in other versions. Neptune’s body appears young and slightly built, in contrast to his aged facial appearance, characterized by a long, wavy beard and flowing hair. The beard has been carefully worked, in a style similar to that of Niccolò Roccatagliata and his son Stefano Nicolini, evident in the modelling of Jesus’ aged followers in the relief depicting the Allegory of the Redemption (1636) in the church of San Moisè in Venice. In this work, Roccatagliata arranges the eighteen old followers around Christ’s tomb, which is supported by a crowd of cherubs.

Pietro Cannata

Bibliography

L. Pollak, Raccolta Alfredo Barsanti (Trecento-Settecento), catalogue of the collection, Bergamo 1922, no. 83, p. 122, pl. XXXVII; A. Santangelo, Museo di Palazzo Venezia. Catalogo delle sculture, Rome 1954, p. 45, fig. 35 

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Page created 2009-01-15, last modify 2010-11-15