Minerva. Tiziano Aspetti, Workshop. 16th-17th century. Bronze with transparent gilded patina.

35 x 14 x 11 cm

This Minerva model is a typical product of Venetian Renaissance foundries. Often used as a topper for monumental andirons, perhaps paired with Mars, or as a study decoration, it is universally attributed to the foundry of Tiziano Aspetti.

The beauty of this casting, combined with the splendid transparent patina with golden tones, suggest that it is intended for collectors rather than for use.

It should be remembered that Aspetti did not leave a proper workshop to perpetuate his models, so speaking of a "school of..." is not entirely accurate. The early 1900s cataloguing by Bode and Planiscig attributed all these statuettes to the master, while current scholarship attributes them to the workshop or to anonymous contemporary foundries that imitated the subject.

One of the few Autograph Mars, naked and balanced on a wonderful pedestal, is the one in the Frick Collection, Washington (Debra Pinctus, 2001).

It's worth noting that similar statuettes appear in international auction catalogs, often of intermediate quality. Valuations are also influenced by the auction house's sales strategies, which sometimes start with low estimates and place high hidden reserves. Or they may fail to properly value the item and offer a "fanciful" valuation.

This disorients the market, which instead needs to have correct valuations (without overdoing it), but which give a stable direction of average price that guarantees the collector.

Our statuette is among the most successful examples of the subject and is comparable to the one in the Medieval Museum of Bologna, attributed to the circle of Tiziano Aspetti.

Variants and similar models in other museums.

Bibliography:
Mark Gregory d'Apuzzo, The Bronze Collection of the Medieval Civic Museum of Bologna, Libro Co, San Casciano Val di Pesa, p. 217.