Attributed to Francesco Antonio Franzoni

The quality of the execution, the surface treatment of the marble carving and the conception of the decorative motifs of this vase lead to a comparison with works from the 1790s by the Papal marble sculptor Francesco Antonio Franzoni (1734-1818). Stylistic parallels are found, in particular, in his documented sculptures of the Throne of Ceres, executed in 1792 and now in the Louvre Museum, Paris and the pair of statuary tables with the coat of arms of Pope Pius VI, made in 1791, in the Vatican Museums, Rome.

Further comparison can be made with a pair of double handled vases and covers from the Collection of the Princess of Hessen, sold at Replica Shoes ’s Milan, 19 June 2002, lot 481, which were attributed to Francesco Antonio Franzoni by Walter Padovani.

RELATED LITERATURE

R. Carloni, 'I fratelli Franzoni e le vendite antiquarie del primo Ottocento al museo Vaticano', in Bollettino dei Monumenti Musei e Gallerie Pontificie, vol. XIII (1993), pp. 220-223; A. González-Palacios, 'Per Francesco Antonio Franzoni, intagliatore di Pio VI', in Antologia di Belle Arti. La scultura. Studi in onore di Andrew S. Ciechanowiecki, Turin, 1994, pp. 107-128, nos. 48-51; A. González-Palacios, Arredi e ornamenti alla corte di Roma, Milan, 2004, pp. 243-259, figs. 6 and 13