Francisco QUEIROLO (Gênes 1704 - Naples 1764 Francisco QUEIROLO (Genoa 1704 - Na…
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Francisco QUEIROLO (Gênes 1704 - Naples 1764

Francisco QUEIROLO (Genoa 1704 - Naples 1764) Portrait of a man. Bust in marble. Total height : 58 cm, - Pedestal : 15 cm. Signed on the back : EQUES FRANCISCUS QUEIROLUS GENVENSIS SCULPIT Small accidents on the nose, the right eyebrow, in the hair and on the pedestal. Provenance : Former Collection of Stephane Dervillé (1848-1925). Probably bought in Italy at the end of the 19th century, then by descent. This bust of a man, with a pleasant and jovial air, carved in marble without concern for idealization, is probably a "friendship portrait". Although this type of portrait is usually done in terracotta or plaster, the simple rounded cutout of the bust at the neck, the bare torso, the absence of costume or clues indicating the rank of the sitter, and the cheerful, benevolent, and lively expression that emerges suggest that this is an intimate of the sculptor. This portrait, brimming with respectful affection, is the work of the rare and talented sculptor Francesco Queirolo. This Genoese-born artist is one of the most important sculptors of his generation. The first documented work of the young artist is a sculpture of the Archangel Michael, made in Genoa in collaboration with the marble maker Giuseppe Macetti in 1728 and intended to decorate the cathedral of Cagliari. Ambitious and desirous of establishing his career on an international level, the artist reached Rome in 1732. He began his Roman career in the workshop of the famous Giuseppe Rusconi (1687-1737) and then joined forces with Antonio Corradini (1668-1752) whose baroque and graceful work influenced him. From the moment of his arrival, his integration into the Roman artistic milieu was crowned with success: he received third prize in the first class of sculpture in the Clementine competition in 1732, obtained the title of "knight" which he incorporated into his signature (documented in 1740) and in 1743 was named a member of the Accademia d'Arcadia. These honors were in response to the numerous commissions that occupied him continuously throughout his career. Between 1734 and 1735 he executed the statue of S. Filippo Benizi for the balustrade of the façade of S. Giovanni dei Fiorentini. In 1735 he joined Bernardo Ludovisi, Bartolomeo Pincellotti and Agostino Corsini under the direction of Nicola Salvi for the long project of the famous fountain of Trevi. In 1737, on the occasion of the canonization of Giuliana Falconieri, Vincenzo de' Paoli, Francesco de Regis and Caterina Fieschi Adorno in St. Peter's, the sculptor made a stucco statue of Religion. In the 1740s he worked for the church of the Ss. Nome di Maria alla Colonna Traiana and then for the church of S. Maria Maggiore. There he realized the S. Charles Borromeo on the façade in 1742, then the following year angels and the coat of arms of Benedict XIV for the frontispiece of the sacristy. He was again found on the building site of the church of the Fathers of the Mission in the Piazza di Montecitorio (now destroyed), where he would have executed statues in stucco. The sculptor also carried out commissions for buildings outside the Eternal City. In 1745 he was commissioned by Cardinal Spinola to make an altar in polychrome marble for the collegiate church of Subiaco, and in 1746 he was commissioned to make another altar in the church of Affile. Towards the end of the 1740s, Francesco Queirolo specialized in funerary monuments, a type of work in which he demonstrated virtuosity, mastery and inventiveness. Between 1749 and 1752, he designed and sculpted the tomb of the Duchess Livia del Grillo on the right counter-façade of S. Andrea delle Fratte, then the tomb of Bishop Fabrizio Borgia in 1750 in the apse of the Cathedral of Saints Giovanni and Paolo di Ferentino. The year 1752 marked a decisive turning point in his career when he was called to Naples. He replaced Antonio Corradini, who died that year, for the construction of the Sansevero Chapel, which had begun in 1750 at the request of Prince Raimondo di Sangro (1710-1771), with the iconographic program. Francesco Queirolo signed an exclusive contract for this project, the high point of his career. During the seven years in which he worked on this During the seven years that he worked on this project, he sculpted numerous works: in particular, the six medallions above the chapels presenting the effigies of the cardinals of the Sangro family, the figure of Sincerity for the mausoleum of Carlotta Gaetani, wife of Raimondo, and the allegorical group of Education for the monument dedicated to the wives of Paolo di Sangro, the second prince of Sansever. He also realized the monument to S. Rosalia, patroness of Palermo and the most famous saint of the Sangro family, as well as that of S. Oderisio thirty-ninth abbot of Montecassino. He also realized the group of the Liberation (1753-54), dedicated to Giulia Gaetani of Aragona, wife of the fourth prince of Sansevero. Finally, we cannot end this long list without mentioning the artist's most famous work, which is also considered today as

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Francisco QUEIROLO (Gênes 1704 - Naples 1764

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