Antonio Bonazza (23 December 1698 – 12 January 1763) was an Italian sculptor of the

Rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

. He is considered one the greatest and most original Venetian sculptors of the 18th century; his activity was widespread, and his art distinguished by its vivid and picturesque naturalism.

Biography

Early career

Antonio was the son of Giovanni Bonazza, a prominent sculptor active in

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

(1654–1736), and member of a large family of sculptors. He may have been influenced by

Orazio Marinali Orazio Marinali (24 February 1643 – 6 April 1720) was an Italian late-Baroque sculptor, active mainly in the Veneto or Venetian mainland. Biography Orazio Marinali was born in Angarano, near Bassano del Grappa, on 24 February 1643. He trained ...

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; or , archaically ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, where it straddles the Bacchiglione, River Bacchiglione. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and e ...

. He is first recorded working in collaboration with his father and brothers Tommaso and Francesco on the marble reliefs depicting the Adoration of the Shepherds (1730) and the

Adoration of the Magi The Adoration of the Magi or Adoration of the Kings or Visitation of the Wise Men is the name traditionally given to the subject in the Nativity of Jesus in art in which the three Magi, represented as kings, especially in the West, having fo ...

(1732) in the Cappella del Rosario of

Santi Giovanni e Paolo, Venice The Basilica dei Santi Giovanni e Paolo, known in Venetian as San Zanipolo, is a Catholic Church, Catholic minor basilica and Dominican Order, Dominican conventual church in the Castello, Venice, Castello ''sestiere'' of Venice, Italy. It is one ...

, which are characterized by tender naturalistic detail. Later he produced the eight slightly rigid

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

Virtues (1741) in the Madonna Addolorata al Torresino, Padua, and the fourteen marble reliefs of the

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Via Dolorosa, Way of Sorrows or the , are a series of fourteen images depicting Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and acc ...

in the parish church at Cornegliana (Padua).

Mature works

In 1742 he created his masterpiece, a series of garden sculptures executed for the Villa Widmann at Bagnoli di Sopra. Here, alongside mythological figures, are a soldier, an oriental, a Moor, a huntsman, a peasant, a gentleman and gentlewoman, and a quarrelsome old man and woman, engaged in a witty comedy reminiscent of

Carlo Goldoni Carlo Osvaldo Goldoni (, also , ; 25 February 1707 – 6 February 1793) was an Italian playwright and librettist from the Republic of Venice. His works include some of Italy's most famous and best-loved plays. Audiences have admired the plays ...

’s contemporary plays; indeed Goldoni was a guest at the villa. Bonazza was also a gifted portraitist, as demonstrated in the portraits in pietra tenera of

Pope Benedict XIV Pope Benedict XIV (; ; 31 March 1675 – 3 May 1758), born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 17 August 1740 to his death in May 1758. Pope Benedict X (1058–1059) is now con ...

and Cardinal Rezzonico (later

Pope Clement XIII Pope Clement XIII (; ; 7 March 1693 – 2 February 1769), born Carlo della Torre di Rezzonico, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 July 1758 to his death in February 1769. He was installed on 16 July 1758. ...

) (both 1746;

Padua Cathedral Padua Cathedral, or Basilica Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption (), is a Catholic Church, Catholic church and Basilicas in the Catholic Church, minor basilica located on the east end of Piazza Duomo, Padua, Piazza Duomo, adjacent to the b ...

) and the vivid portrait in marble of the doctor Alessandro Knips Macoppe (Universityo of Padua). Antonio’s mature religious works tend to be more conventional. His many saints and angels include the marble figures of Saints Peter and Paul (1746) for the high altar of the parish church at Bagnoli di Sopra, the angels (1750s) for the church of San Tommaso dei Filippini, Padua, distinguished by their wonderfully rounded luminous surfaces, and the angels executed in a broader, freer style for the parish church at Valnogaredo. His works in low relief include the slightly heavy, yet atmospheric reliefs (1753–5) for the altar of the Sacrament in Montagnana Cathedral, showing the Sacrifice of Isaac, Elijah and the Angel and the

Last Supper Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, ''The Last Supper (Leonardo), The Last Supper'' (1495-1498). Mural, tempera on gesso, pitch and mastic ...

. In 1757 he completed a further series of garden sculptures, of

Flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

, Pomona,

Zephyrus In Greek mythology and religion, Zephyrus () (), also spelled in English as Zephyr (), is the god and personification of the West wind, one of the several wind gods, the Anemoi. The son of Eos (the goddess of the dawn) and Astraeus, Zephyrus is t ...

and

Vertumnus In Roman mythology, Vertumnus (; also Vortumnus or Vertimnus) is the god of seasons, change and plant growth, as well as gardens and fruit trees. He could change his form at will; using this power, according to Ovid's ''Metamorphoses'' (xiv), ...

, for the Peterhof Garden at

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

. Antonio is best known for his sculpture of

genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...

themes, carved in local stone. His genre subjects may have influenced

Franz Anton Bustelli Franz Anton Bustelli (12 April 1723 – 18 April 1763) was a Swiss-born German modeller for the Bavarian Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory from 1754 to his death in 1763. He is widely regarded as the finest modeller of porcelain in the Rococo s ...

’s porcelain figures produced at

Nymphenburg porcelain The Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory (German: ''Porzellan Manufaktur Nymphenburg'') is located at the ''Nördliches Schloßrondell'' (northern palace circle) in one of the ''Cavalier Houses'' in front of the Nymphenburg Palace in Munich, Germa ...

factory.

Gallery

File:Duomo (Padua) - Antonio Bonazza - Statue of the Assumption.jpg, Statue of the Assumption, Padua Cathedral File:Скульптура «Флора» в Нижнем саду Ораниенбаумского парка 2022 02.jpg, Flora statue (detail) in Upper Gardens of Peterhof, Saint Petersburg, Russia File:Скульптура «Помона» в Нижнем саду Ораниенбаумского парка 2022 02.jpg, Pomona statue (detail) in Upper Gardens of Peterhof, Saint Petersburg, Russia File:Bozzetto for the Marble 'The Assumption of the Virgin' in the Padua Duomo LACMA M.84.204 (2 of 3).jpg, Bozzetto for the Marble 'The Assumption of the Virgin' in the Padua Cathedral (particular)

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bonazza, Antonio 1698 births 1762 deaths 18th-century Italian sculptors Italian male sculptors 18th-century Italian male artists