AN OVAL GILT TERRACOTTA RELIEF OF THE VIRGIN AND CHILD

The variable texture of the clouds, fluttering and deep folded drapery and the physiognomy of the Virgin and Child on the relief offered here suggest that the artist was operating out of the workshop of Giuseppe Maria Mazza, the pre-eminent Bolognese sculptor of the late 17th and early 18th century. These stylistic similarities can be seen in Mazza's Adorazione dei pastori (1704) in the San Clemente in Isola and San Domenico battezza gli eretici (1722-1730) in the Basilica di San Giovanni e Paolo, both in Venice (A. Bacchi, La Scultura A Venezia Da Sansovino A Canova, Milan, 2000, pls. 487-490).