Description:
Pietro Bazzanti - Barzanti (Italian, 1825-1895) "After the Bath" - A Very Fine and Large Carved White Carrara Marble Figure of a Semi-Nude Young Maiden Standing by the Sea-Shore. The smiling and posing young beauty, with bare breasts and back, her right arm juxtaposed over her head, while holding a blanket over her waist with her left hand and standing barefoot by a rocky seawall and wavy shoreline. Signed 'P. Barzanti/Florence' (on reverse) and raised on a swiveling verde antico marble pedestal. Circa: Florence, 1880-1890.
Sculpture Height: 56 inches (142.2 cm)
Pedestal Height: 32 1/4 inches (82 cm)
Overall Height: 88 1⁄4 inches (224.2 cm)
Ref.: A2656 - Lot 11332
Pietro Bazzanti or Barzanti (Italian, 1825-1895) was a 19th century Italian sculptor born in Florence. Together with his brother, Niccolò Bazzanti (Firenze, 1802-1869) who was also a sculptor, they both worked the sprawling Florentine studio 'Pietro Bazzanti e Figlio' a hugely successful sculpture studio, operated within the family at their gallery on Lungarno Corsini until the mid-twentieth century. The studio was a place where many talented professors and apprentice sculptors specialized in sculpting marble genre scenes and allegorical figures as well as copies of antique and Renaissance sculpture catered to a prominent international clientele which included European and Russian aristocracy, and the industrial fortunes being made in England and Americas drove considerable export demand. In 1861 the studio was awarded the medal for 'Ercole con cinghiale sulla spalla' (Hercules with boar on shoulder), 'Due Cani' (Two dogs) and 'Cinghiale' (Boar) sculptures at the National Exposition in Florence. In 1874 he exhibits his works in London and in 1876 in Philadelphia.
Bazzanti frequently returned to the subject of 'After the Bath' or 'The Bather' in his works, having carved examples of the bathing Venus after the Antique and in dynamic and dramatic compositions such as the present sculpture. The finely-detailed work relates closely to popular figures produced by Bazzanti’s contemporary, Cesar Lapini, whose 'La Sopresa' depicts a young woman stepping back from approaching waves. The sculptor’s penchant for realism is on full display with the contrasting matte and highly-polished finishes of the gently lapping waves at the figure’s feet, to the jutting rocks and soft skin. Elegant handling of textures is further exemplified in the draped fringe of the cloth. This monumental and fine work is illustrated in situ at Bazzanti’s studio circa 1900 among other fashionable works of the period.
Note: Notes: Pietro Bazzanti was also known as Pietro Barzanti. There are conflicting dates of Pietro Bazzanti/Barzanti's birth/death year. Some auction houses and art galleries have described 'Pietro Barzanti' as Italian, 1842–1881 and Pietro Bazzanti as Italian, 1825-1895. However, according to 'Alfonso Panzetta – Nuovo Dizionario degli Scultori Italiani dell’ottocento e del Primo Novecento – 2003 Edition –Page 78, 'Pietro Barzanti' was in fact 'Pietro Bazzanti', one and the same, and it questions his year of his birth/death as "Firenze (?), ?, ?." thus we believe that the Italian, 1825-1895 description is the most plausible.
Literature:
Alfonso Panzetta – Nuovo Dizionario degli Scultori Italiani dell’ottocento e del Primo Novecento – 2003 Edition –Page 78.
Museums:
Museo Soumaya in Mexico City - Pietro Bazzanti's "The Wrestlers"
Auctions:
Another example of this sculpture, probably also Pietro Bazzanti, but almost a foot shorter, unsigned and without its pedestal, was sold at Christie's New York, 19th Century Furniture, Sculpture, Works of Art and Ceramics Sale 1818 on 11 April 2007 for $48,000
Condition Report:
In overall very good condition. Stone with natural inclusions and variation in color. A filled inclusion visible inside of the proper right forefinger original to carving. Scattered dots of infill on the polished marble including the torso and upper arms. A small area of infill and a repaired scratch on the back of the figure.
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