Mochi, Francesco (attr.)

Description:

circa 1580 - circa 1654
H. 15,8/12,5 cm
Apostle with a book. Bronze, with a dark patina, slightly worn. Red marble plinth, chipped. - A figure of the apostle standing in a dynamic pose, holding a book which he rests on his right leg, his view directed downwards as he is reading. A flowing robe with dynamic folds.
Belgian collection.
The Italian sculptor and medallist Francesco Mochi was probably educated in Florence and moved to Rome around 1600, where he received commissions from the powerful Farnese family and soon established a reputation as a sculptor of monumental works. He is also known for small bronze works, such as a Saint Veronica in an English private collection, which features a drapery of the robe that is almost identical in parts, or a silver figure of a Saint at the MET in New York from around 1630-40, which is attributed to him. An almost identical figure of the local apostle is held in the Museo Lázaro Galdiano in Madrid (Inv. 1316), which was acquired in Paris between 1936 and 1939 by Lázaro Galdiano (1862-1947).
Lit. BOREA, E., Francesco Mochi, 1580-1654, Milan, 1966; CAMPS CAZORLA, E. Inventory of the Lázaro Galdiano Museum (1948-1950). 1948-1950. « Bronze figurine of an Apostle, bearded and with libération. On a molded wooden base. » Height: 155 mm. Observations : Proc. Col. Paris. Box 33; COPPEL ARÉIZAGA, R. Pequeños bronces en la Fundación Lázaro Galdiano, Madrid, 2001, p. 75, nº 20. Madrid; DEL BRAVO, C., Francesco Mochi, 1981