Important Ceroplastic Work - Portrait Of A Young Man Signed "piero Bezzi" Venice - Circa 1750.

The family of Tommaso Bezzi (1652-1729), mask makers and sculptors, moved from Venice in the 17th century to the Estensi court in Modena. Tommaso became the court architect and engineer and left a multitude of works in Modena on which his son Piero (1713-1769) collaborated. Piero is also remembered for his wax portraits, including the one I illustrate herealmost life-size .
It is the allegory of a South American boy or a Patagonian. He can be deduced from his clothing. In fact, he wears a poncho, the typical item of clothing present throughout South America even before its discovery. From the pocket of the dress a geographical map appears that corresponds to the South Americas. the map was turned and repositioned and was taken from an atlas previous to this work as North America does not yet exist and Patagonia is located in Antarctica(!) . It must be remembered that in the mid-18th century South America was practically unknown, and only with the famous expedition of the "Royal Academy of France" in 1740 would there be a more defined portrait. This portrait is still in its original condition, unrestored and signed on the back: to photograph without reflections the original glass was removed. Piero's signature will allow the attribution of other still anonymous wax modeling works and therefore presents itself as an important reference for the history of Italian wax modeling, famous for the schools of Florence, Bologna and Modena. Other waxworks by Piero Bezzi are present such as those in the cathedral of Carpi (Modena) which I attach to this description. It goes without saying that the wax portraits are very rare and number a few dozen works, many of which are. preserved at the "il Labirinto della Magione" museum in Parma, collected over decades of research by the famous publisher Franco Maria Ricci.