Genoese Sculptor Of The School Of Pierre Puget (1620 - 1694), Two Virile Figures

Genoese sculptor of the school of Pierre Puget (1620 - 1694)
Two virile figures
Cast and patinated bronze, cm 13.5 x 13 and cm 14 x 13

Among the sculptural production of Pierre Puget (Marseille 1620 - Marseille, 1694) are small terracotta busts whose lively shapes and expressive faces recall the pair of bronzes examined here. In particular, the most precise references can be found in the terracotta depicting the king David kept in the collections of the Musée Granet or in the portrait of the emperor Mark Aurelius kept in the same museum, as well as the Shepherd of the Musée du Viezx Toulon and the model for the statue of Bato Alessandro Sauli kept at the Cleveland Museum of Art.
The sculptor is a plasticizer belonging to the Genoese school that developed after the stay of Puget in town around the sixth decade of the seventeenth century. In fact the Puget born in Marseille soon moved to Rome where, in 1640 he became assistant of Pietro da Cortona, where he worked for the painting of the sumptuous ceilings of Palazzo Barberini in Rome and Palazzo Pitti in Florence. Returned to France, in Toulon, he painted paintings and altarpieces for religious confraternities, parish churches and convents. 1655 is the year of his first major sculpture, The mighty Atlanteans that support the balconies of the Hotel de Ville in Toulon.
In 1660 he received an even more important commission from Nicolas Fouquet, the king’s finance minister, to make sculptures for the new Fouquet garden at Vaux-le-Vicomte, including a statue of Hercules. The sculptor went to the marble quarries of Carrara, where he selected the marble he wanted, chose a Genoese sailor as model and made in Genoa the statue that became known as Hercules of Gaul (Paris, Louvre). However, the disgrace of his client convinced him to stay in Italy; he decided to move to Genoa with his family. Puget stayed in the city for about a decade from 1661 to 1668, bringing the latest innovations of the Roman baroque into the city. During this period he completed numerous projects and became owner of a fruitful workshop where many sculptors were trained, such as Daniello Solaro and Honoré Pellé. In 1663 Francesco Maria Sauli commissioned the sculptor to complete the Basilica of Santa Maria Assunta in Carignano, inspired by the work of Bernini in San Pietro, which was never realized. Among the other works of the Genoese period we find the Immaculate, for the Hotel of the poor, the high altar of the Basilica of San Siro and the Rat of Elena for the terrace of the Palazzo Pantaleo Spinola. Back in France he creates one of his most monumental works, the Milone da Crotone now preserved at the Louvre in Paris. He died in Marseille on 2 December 1694.

The object is in good condition