VALENTINO PANCIERA detto BESAREL (bottega di)

(Astragal di Zoldo, 1829 - Venice, 1902) Pair of carved and patinated wooden armchairs, Veneto, second half of the 19th century The frame in the form of foliate shrubs with Moorish servants in the front uprights, putti and fauns in the armrests, upholstered in damask fabric with floral decoration; flaws, some breaks and missing in the friezes, part to be reattached, frame to be consolidated, few traces of woodworm, the fabric replaced H. cm 123, W. cm 93, D. cm 87 A PAIR OF VENETO CARVED AND PATINATED WOOD ARMCHAIRS, BY BESAREL'S WORKSHOP, SECON HALF OF 19TH CENTURY; DEFECTS, SOME LOSSES AND DAMAGES, PART TO BE REATTACHED, STRUCTURE TO BE FIXED, FEW WOODWORM TRACES, FABRIC REPLACED (2) On the subject of decorative arts repurposed in a neo-Baroque key, among the major creators should certainly be mentioned that Valentino Panciera, known as Besarel, who will base his rich production of furniture and sculptural works in the wake of the Brustolonian tradition, throughout the second half of the 19th century. And precisely the model of the small chairs presented here is the one developed by Andrea Brustolon from Belluno (1662 - 1732) for the famous Fornimento Venier, now in Cà Rezzonico in Venice (C. Alberici, Il mobile veneto, Milan 1980, pp. 162-170 and E. Colle, Il mobile Barocco in Italia, Milan 2000, p. 338); it seems evident how the iconography used, with the frontal Moors and the plump putti reclining on the armrests, becomes an almost slavish quotation of the cited originals. What suggests the paternity of ours to Besarel's workshop is a direct comparison with some works attributed to him, such as the examples with moretti now in the Quirinale (AA.VV., Andrea Brustolon, Valentino Panciera Besarel. La scuola di restauro di Sedico interroga i grandi maestri, Belluno 2016, p. 42 ff., figs. 3, 4, 6-8) but even more so with a similarly worked seat, in the collection Poltrone e sgabelli, from the Photographic Album of the Besarel atelier (Venice, Casal-Perretti Archives, op. cit., p. 48, fig. 9, table XVIX). Reference bibliography: M. De Grassi, Valentino Panciera Besarel (1829 - 1902). Storia e arte di una bottega d'intaglio in Veneto, exhibition catalog, Belluno 2002-2003, ad vocem AA.VV., Andrea Brustolon, 1662-1732. Il Michelangelo del legno, exhibition catalog, Belluno, Palazzo Crepadona March 28 ;-12 July 2009, Milan 2009, ad vocem