TEFAF Maastricht 2020: important Sculptures and Works of Art

The Dutch appointment for the Alessandro Cesati gallery is renewed: for the twenty-second time the gallery is taking part in the TEFAF in Maastricht (7-15 March 2020) presenting a refined selection of important sculptures and Works of Art, set up in a stand with two rooms, the largest one being dedicated to the 17th century.

In a central position, there will be an extraordinary Roman Centurion attributed to Ercole Ferrata, a skilful sculptor of Baroque Rome native of Lombardy: prolific and versatile, the artist collaborated with Bernini, Algardi and Melchiorre Cafà. Carved in maple wood, with its typically warm colour, the character is dressed in ancient style, following the Portrait of Philip IV of Spain created by Bernini. The beautiful sculpture probably represents Saint Longinus, the Roman soldier who pierced the side of Jesus with his spear: the half-open mouth of someone who is captured by a very deep thought makes the imperturbable expression of the man’s face even more decisive, with his intense gaze.

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Among other baroque sculptures, one will admire an important and unpublished male profile -a so-called Character Head– by Giovanni Bonazza (Venice 1654 – Padua 1736), one of the most whimsical and prolific sculptors of the artistic panorama in northern Italy. The striking work shows some traces of the artist’s youthful activity – when the artist already got some important commissions-, such as the luminous rendering of the draperies and the insistent use of the drill.

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Among the Works of Art, the Gallery will show an exceptional Holy Water Stoup in gilded copper, richly decorated with hundreds of coral elements, made in Trapani during the second half of the 17th century with the extraordinary and refined technique that fascinated the most important noblemen in Sicily and throughout Europe as well.

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The second room will be dedicated to a traditional selection of rare ironwork from the 15th century onwards and to refined Works of Art, among which a unique wooden Casket, with mother-of-pearl and brass inlays, made in the Upper Loire Valley between the end of the 16th century and the early 17th century. This casket enriched by a profane decoration with flowers, animals and mermaids, is a refined and unique example of the excellence achieved with this sophisticated technique. TEFAF-Maastricht-2020-Sculptures-and-Works-of-Art