Relief, red wax on wooden ground, of Christ before Pilate, studies for the Grimaldi Chapel, Genoa, by Giambologna, (Italy) Florence, ca. 1579-1580

Relief in red wax on a wooden ground. Pilate is enthroned to the right, with attendants; in the centre Christ is thrust forward by soldiers, and other soldiers are conversing on the left. There is an architectural background, with an arcade in perspective. The foreground figures are modelled in high relief, and the background figures are incised in the surface of the wax, which is set on a wooden ground.

This group of three wax reliefs were models for three of six bronze reliefs made by Giambologna for the funerary chapel of Luca Grimaldi in the church of San Francesco di Castelletto, Genoa.
The six reliefs are Scenes of the Passion depicting:
1. Christ before Pilate
2. The Flagellation
3. Christ Crowned with Thorns
4. Ecce Homo
5. Pilate Washing his Hands
6. The Way to Calvary
The commission also included a relief of the Entombment, six bronze Virtues (Faith, Hope, Charity, Justice, Fortitude, Temperance), a bronze Crucifix (now lost), two paintings (Sacrifice of Isaac and Joseph Sold into Egypt by Aurelio Lomi, c.1590), a tomb, a bronze statue of Grimaldi and stuccos.
After an exchange of letters between Grimaldi and the Grand-Duke Francesco de'Medici running from 22 April to 10 June 1579, Giovanni Bologna paid a short visit to Genoa, where, on 24 July, the contract for the sculptures was signed (witnessed by the painter Luca Cambiaso). It is stipulated in the contract that the sculptures should be made in Florence. Giambologna was still working on the chapel in 1584, and it appears to have been completed in this or the following year.

On the demolition of San Francesco di Castelletto in 1815, the statues and reliefs were transported to the University, in the chapel and Aula Magna where they are now housed. At a later date versions of the six reliefs, with small modifications, were cast for the Grand-Duke Ferdinando I de'Medici, and were made available by him for inclusion in the sculptor's memorial chapel, the Cappella del Soccorso in the Annunziata in Florence, on which Giovanni Bologna was at work between 1594 and 1598. A third set of bronze reliefs is in the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich. This last set had been in the possession of the collector Marcus Zeh in the early seventeenth century, itself an indicator of the sculptor's international renown and reputation.

The present group of three reliefs was first mentioned in the sale catalogue of worked belonging to 'Mr Lock', that is William Locke of Norbury Park in Surrey, under the pseudonym of 'FitzHugh' (London, Christie's, 16 April, 1785, No.23: "Four Basso-relievos in wax, by Giov.di Bologna"), which included the . They were purchased for £5 5s. by the sculptor Nollekens, and figure once more in the Nollekens sale (London, Christie, 4 July, 1823), where the subjects are described:
34. G. DI BOLOGNA. Christ before Pilate, in a glazed Case. This and the 3 following very fine and original Terra Cottas were purchased at Mr. Locke's Sale.
35. DITTO....The Flagellation
36. DITTO....Pilate washing his hands.
37. DITTO....Christ exposed to the Multitude

By 1858, when three of the reliefs are mentioned parenthetically in the catalogue of the J. Rogers sale (London, Christie, 17 June, 1858, No.5) as in the possession of James Vallentin, the Flagellation model had been separated from the three other reliefs. The models appear again in the sale of the collection of Sir James Vallentin (London, Christie, 28 July 1870, Nos. 333, 334, 335) as "Reliefs in terra-cotta, said to be the Models by G. di Bologna for part of the Bronze Gates of the Duomo at Pisa".

The three reliefs were purchased by a dealer, Benjamin, for £2 10s. From Benjamin they passed successively through the hand of Calvetti and Pinti, two Italian dealers resident in London, and were then sold to Riblet, a dealer in Florence, from whom they were purchased in 1878 by Mr. Francis Austen. The fourth relief of the Flagellation wax recorded in the Howel Wills collection, Florence (sale, London, Christie, 16 February, 1894, No.277: "A large relief in wax representing the Flagellation of Christ - a model made by G. di Bologna for the bronze relief in the great west door of Pisa Cathedral - in walnut-wood case, with folding doors", bought Jones £4 15s). It is now in the Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane.

Physical Condition: The composition of the wax was analysed in 1978 by Raymond White of the National Gallery. The main constituent was found to be beeswax, with animal fat or tallow added, which would have made the mixture easier to model and would adhere to itself better (if built up sectionally). Parts of the fat have separated (hydrolised) and migrated to the surface leaving the sticky deposit which gives the waxes their 'sweaty' appearence.

Historical significance: This group of objects is of major historical significance in showing the different steps in the sculptural process. Giambologna's sketch drawings for these pieces - assuming they existed - do not survive. However, evidence of drawings by the sculptor is sparse, and he probably worked out his ideas largely in three dimensions. Model would have been kept for a variety of reasons, depending on the function. Some were kept for use in the workshop; others would have been presented to clients, and/or formed part of the contract for work. During the sixteenth century the fascination with the creative process led to such drawings and models being avidly collected. These reliefs, together with the one in Brisbane, were probably in the collection of Bernardo Vecchietti, who was Giambologna's original benefactor when he arrived in Florence.

Unlike some of Giambologna's other 'pensieri' - literally 'thoughts' - these are highly finished, and their relationship to the finished bronzes is therefore open to interpretation. If used to create the moulds for the wax 'inter-model' that would have been used to make the finished bronze, they have survived in remarkable condition. The variations between the waxes and the finished bronzes also suggest that other models, based on these, were perhaps more likely to have been made. These waxe reliefs, therefore, cast some light on the sculptor's working practises.

Acquired in England in 1878.

Updated PM/7-9-20

Giambologna's work is of key importance in illustrating the Reformation of the Catholic Church. Whilst the Protestant reformers were emphasising the primacy of the text over the image for devotion, the Catholic Church's response was to commission visual arts which broke new boundaries in emotive expression, while ensuring appropriate decorum. The Grimaldi Chapel reliefs are particularly significant in that they combine the artist's technical virutosity and highly charged emotional evocation with a strong narrative cycle expressed in a manner that reflects the patron's adherence to this strict doctrine.

This group of three wax reliefs (see also V&A: 339-1879 and 330-1879) were studies for three of six bronze reliefs made by Giambologna for the Grimaldi Chapel in San Francesco di Castelletto, Genoa.

328-1879