Attribué à FRANCESCO LADATTE (Turin, 1706-1787)

PEACE AND WAR Pair of large allegorical marble putti Piedmont, mid 18th century Carved white marble Putti : H. 91 cm With their sagacious air, windy locks and penetrating gaze, these exceptional putti carved in white marble are symmetrical to one another. Standing on a rocky mound, one, draped in a large toga, holds a large vegetal corolla and a cornucopia; the other, dressed in a feathered loincloth, has a quiver full of arrows but, instead of a bow, he carries an empty horn with a leafy scroll. The ideal beauty of their faces and the high degree of naturalism of the accessories recall a group sculpted by Francesco Ladatte representing two putti, one of whom is holding a cornucopia. Born in Piedmont, Francesco Ladatte evolved in the milieu of the Court of Savoy. During a stay in Paris in 1729, he obtained the Prix de Rome. He was admitted to the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in 1741 and had the honor of working for Louis XV, notably in the chapel of the Château de Versailles. In his portrait painted by Carle Van Loo, there is the modello of a sculpture now preserved in the Royal Palace in Turin (fig. 2). It represents a cherub riding a pelican (fig. 3). The treatment of the vegetation in the interstice of the rocks, that of the animal's antlers or the effects of the stone's material are comparable to those we observe on our pair. Our artist returned to Turin in 1744 where he was appointed Sculptor to King Charles-Emmanuel III of Savoy. He is said to have decorated the royal castle with a series of six allegorical putti, one of which carries a quiver and holds an arrow against it (fig. 4). They would be warrior virtues. Our pair of putti could represent an allegory of War and Peace.