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Christ before Pilate

Relief
ca. 1579-1580 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

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.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleChrist before Pilate (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Red wax on a wooden ground
Brief description
Relief, red wax on wooden ground, of Christ before Pilate, studies for the Grimaldi Chapel, Genoa, by Giambologna, (Italy) Florence, ca. 1579-1580
Physical description
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.
Dimensions
  • Height: 46.8cm
  • Width: 73.4cm
  • Depth: 12.5cm
Measured for the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries
Gallery label
CHRIST BEFORE CAIAPHAS
Red wax
By GIOVANNI BOLOGNA
(b.1529; d.1608).
ITALIAN (FLORENTINE); CA.1579.
328-1879
This and the two companion reliefs are sketch-models for three of the six bronze Passion scenes made by Giovanni Bologna for the Grimaldi Chapel in S. Francesco di Castelletto, Genoa. The bronze reliefs are now in the University of Genoa. The contract for the sculpture in the Grimaldi Chapel was signed in July 1579, and work on them was still in progress in 1584. Save for certain details in the Christ before Caiaphas, the models correspond closely with the completed bronze reliefs.
(April 1992)
RELIEFS FOR THE GRIMALDI CHAPEL

These wax reliefs are studies for three of the six bronze panels made by Giambologna for the Grimaldi Chapel in San Francesco di Castelletto, Genoa. They were removed to the University of Genoa when the church was demolished in 1815. The contract for this major commission was signed in 1579 and included a Crucifix, six putti and six life-size statues of Virtues.Giambologna was still working on the chapel in 1584.

Versions of the six reliefs were later cast for Ferdinando I de'Medici and made available by him for Giambologna's memorial chapel, the Cappella del Soccorso in Santissima Annunziata, Florence, which the sculptor was working on between 1594 and 1598.

CHRIST BEFORE CAIAPHAS
Red wax on a wooden ground
By GIOVANNI BOLOGNA (1529-1608)
ITALIAN (FLORENCE); about 1579-80
328-1879
(December 1995)
CHRIST BEFORE PILATE
Red wax on a wooden ground
By GIOVANNI BOLOGNA (1529-1608)
ITALIAN (Florence); about 1579-80
328-1879
(January 1997)
CHRIST BEFORE PILATE
Red wax on a wooden ground
By GIOVANNI BOLOGNA (1529-1608)
ITALIAN (Florence); about 1579-80
328-1879

The six relief scenes were confined to the political trial of Christ, with this relief, the first in the series as specified in the contract, showing Christ led before Pilate for judgement.

RELIEFS FOR THE GRIMALDI CHAPEL
These was reliefs are studies for three of the six bronze panels made by Giambologna for the Grimaldi Chapel in San Francesco di Castelletto, Genoa. A fourth wax study, depicting the Flagellation, is in the Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia. The bronzes were removed to the University of Beoa when the church was demolished in 1815. The contract for this major commission was signed in 1579 and included a Crucifix, six putti and six life-size statues of Virtues. Giambologna was still working on the chapel in 1584.

Versions of the six reliefs were later cast for Ferdinando I de'Medici and made available by him for Giambologna's memorial chapel, the Cappella del Scoccorso in Santissima Annunziata, Florence, which the sculptor was working on between 1594 and 1598.

The glistening appearance of parts of these wax reliefs is the result of the inherently unstable nature of the materials and impurities in its composition. Their condition is monitored on a regular basis.
Object history
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
Historical context
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.
Subjects depicted
Summary
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.


Associated objects
Bibliographic references
  • Raggio, Olga Review of Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum, Art Bulletin, vol. L, 1968, p. 102
  • Pope-Hennessy, J, assisted by Lightbrown, R Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1964, pp. 469-47s, cat. no. 492, fig. 494
  • Avery, C and Radcliffe, A Giambologna 1529-1608, Sculptor to the Medici, exhibition catalogue, Arts Council of Great Britain, 1978, pp. 222-223, cat no. 230
  • Borroni Salvadoni, F 'Le esposizioni d'arte a Firenze dal 1674 al 1767', Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorisches Institutes in Florenz, XVIII, 1974, p. 90 and p. 11, no. 41
  • Penny, N Catalogue of European Sculpture in the Ashmolean Museum. 1540 to the Present-Day, Oxford, 1992, vol. 1 Italian, p. 95
  • Bury, M 'The Grimaldi Chapel of Giambologna in San Francesco di Castelletto, Genoa', Mitteilungen des Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz, XXVI/1, 1982, pp. 85-128
  • Gibbons, Mary Weitzel Giambologna's Grimaldi Chapel: A Study in Counter Reformatory Iconography and Style, PhD thesis, Rutgers University, 1984 (printed 1994), NAL 66.R.146, pp.???
  • Macchiani, S 'Le Sculture del Giambologna', Il Palazzodell'Università di Genova. Il Collegio dei Gesuiti nella Strada dei Balbi, Genoa, 1987, pp. 359-387
  • Gibbons, Mary Weitzel, Giambologna: Narrator of the Catholic Reformation, Berkeley, Los Angeles and London, 1995
  • Holderbaum, J The Sculptor Giovanni Bologna, PhD Thesis, Harvard University, New York and London, 1983, pp. 262-4, plate C, fig. 190
  • Maclagan, E and Longhurst MH Catalogue of Italian Sculptures, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1932, p. 144-145
  • Catalogue of the J Rogers sale (Christie's June 17, 1858, Lot 5)
  • Catalogue of the sale of the collection of the late Sir James Vallentin (Christie's July 28, 1870)
  • Avery, C Florentine Renaissance Sculpture, New York, 1970, pl. 184 and p. 251
Collection
Accession number
328-1879

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Record createdFebruary 17, 2004
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