AUCTION 73 OF ARCHAEOLOGY: FINDS FROM ANCIENT ITALIAN COLLECTIONS

In the Archaeology Auction 73:

- the Pietro Fedele collection re-emerged after adventurous war events

- a selection of finds from 19th and early 20th century Italian collections

- an interesting section of Roman marble (sculpture and epigraphs)

- an appendix of ancient photography with an archaeological theme

In Bertolami Fine Art's autumn auction of archaeology, the figure of Pietro Fedele (1873-1943), an illustrious medievalist, academician of the Lincei, director, from 1935 to his death, of the Istituto Storico Italiano per il Medio Evo and, in the 1930s, of the Grande Dizionario Enciclopedico UTET, re-emerges. By virtue of his close relations with the Catholic Church and the solid friendship that bound him to Pope Pius XI, Benito Mussolini placed him, in 1925, as successor to Alessandro Casati (the minister who had resigned in protest in the aftermath of the Matteotti murder), at the head of the Ministry of Education. Passionate about archaeology, during the three years of his mandate he ordered the resumption of the archaeological excavations of Herculaneum and Pompeii and the recovery of the Roman ships sunk in Lake Nemi. His important private collection was instead housed in an ancient coastal tower that had been specially restored: the Tower of Pandolfo Capodiferro near Minturno. Confiscated by the Nazis in 1943, the collection abandoned Italy. In Bertolami Fine Art's auction, the pieces returned to the family by the German state in the years immediately following the raid were placed under the spell. Pieces whose collector's value is increased precisely by their pertinence to a collection of historical importance.

Among the exhibits in the Faithful Collection is a Lekythos Ariballica apulo Greek Lekythos from the 4th century B.C., a unique example of black painted ceramics. The moving peculiarity of the ancient vase is represented by its creator, a child, who, painting on a base made by an expert ceramist, creates a decoration very close to the abstract painting of the early twentieth century.

THE ROMAN MARBLE SECTION

For some years now, trends in the archaeology collecting market have been rewarding classic, highly sought-after marbles, whether they are ancient epigraphs or sculptures.

Among the peculiarities of Roman statuary that most attract collectors from all over the world is undoubtedly the attitude to the realistic representation of the physiognomic features of illustrious men. Our eternal desire to give a face to the founding fathers of great civilizations is satisfied by the virtuosity of Roman portraiture.

What did the great young Octavian's face look like? How did he do his hair? The answer lies in the beautiful youthful portrait of the future father of Imperial Rome. The sculpture comes from the Giacomo Astolfo Motta di Livenza Collection, an important collection of the late 1800s.

Lights also lit on the splendid marble head incontrovertibly depicting Severus Alexander, the last member of the Severus dynasty, here caught in the final stretch of his short life. It was in fact only from 226 A.D. that the emperor - who took the throne in 222, at the age of only thirteen - was represented with a short beard, a novelty in his iconography introduced to signal the beginning of his mature age. The young master of the Empire is here between the ages of eighteen and 26 and is on his way to the destiny common to all the members of his family invested with imperial power: like Geta, Caracalla and Heliogabalus, Alexander died killed by his own, by those legionaries who had acclaimed him dominoes of Rome only a few years earlier.

They belong to the original furnishings of the Roman Villa Blanc, a jewel of late 19th century eclecticism designed in 1896 by Giacomo Boni, the two sarcophagi marked in the catalogue with lot numbers 74 and 75. Architect and archaeologist, a highly original talent that was at the same time emblematic of the cultural climate of his time, Boni selected them for his wealthy client, the Baron Blanc, foreign minister of two Crispi governments.

The Sarcophagus of the Good Shepherd (lot 74) presents, inside a central clipeus surrounded by a complex phytomorphic decoration, the famous iconographic motif of the Good Shepherd, widespread in Roman art and adopted by Christian symbology as a representation of Christ.

The subject of the second sarcophagus (lot 75), dated to the beginning of the 4th century, is a procession of Heroths in the form of winged children. The cherubs surround the clypeus depicting the portrait of the deceased, a boy. The iconography chosen to accompany the long journey beyond his short earthly life is that of the Dionysian Mysteries, characterized by the continuous reference to the alternation between life and death.

ETRUSCAN FINDS

In the selection of Etruscan artifacts, always present in the BFA auctions, some objects of common use are distinguished by exquisite workmanship. This is the case of a mirror decorated with engraving and characterized by a splendid green patina. The scene depicted in the centre of a thick weave of palmettes and lotus flowers represents a warrior in a Phrygian helmet dragging a naked prisoner, probably an episode in the Argonauts' saga.

PIONEERING PHOTOGRAPHY WITH AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL THEME

The catalogue closes with a small appendix of ancient photographs with an archaeological subject, with also author's shots. Those, for example, by Francesco Sidoli from Piacenza, an innovative photographer from the second half of the 19th century who, after opening a branch in Rome, was able to challenge the famous names of Capitoline photography.

In the photo, taken close to the Sacred Way, the Colosseum, the arch of Constantine, the podium of the temple of Venus and Rome and the Meta Sudans, a monumental truncated cone fountain now disappeared.

By Rossella Ariosto

(Article published in ArtsLife on 9 December 2019)