Pair of twelve-sided tables

Valadier Luigi

(Rome 1726 - 1785)

Chromatic richness and formal variety characterise the two tables, in which Luigi Valadier juxtaposed different materials and workmanship, a stylistic element that distinguishes the productions of his workshop.

The balanced composition of the different parts has led some scholars to hypothesise that architect Antonio Asprucci might have designed them, as he was engaged to restore the Villa Pinciana at that time.

The detail of the bronze ornaments is extremely refined: the eight heads representing the Four Seasons show a virtuosic and skilful execution in the detail of the flowers, leaves and wheat shafts, as well as in the drapery and details of the beards and hair. They are also marked by a criterion of varietas in the characterised expressions of the faces.

For this work, and for the contemporary Herm, documents record the collaboration of master stonemason Benedetto Maciucchi.

Object details

Commentary

The pair of tables was executed by Luigi Valadier at the same time as the Erma [Herm] in 1773, as confirmed by the payment orders addressed to him and the master stonemason Benedetto Maciucchi (González-Palacios, Il gusto, 1993, I, p. 50; González-Palacios 2000, p. 127); like the Herm, the tables were also destined for the palace of Campo Marzio, where they were placed in the “Galleriola dei Cesari”.

Chromatic richness and formal variety characterise the two tables, in which Valadier juxtaposes different materials and workmanship, a stylistic element that distinguishes the productions of his workshop. The completely linear, dodecagonal porphyry planes rest on exuberantly shaped pedestals, formed by superimposing  polychrome marbles on a peperino core, large volutes and embroidered discs carved in peperino and gilded, and four gilded bronze masks, depicting personifications of the Seasons, with different likenesses for each table.

The detail of the bronze ornamentation is extremely refined. The edge of the porphyry top is trimmed with a ribbon motif wound on a stick, a classical moulding that returns at the base of the foot, at the attachment of the plinth, and is constantly found in the architectural decorations of the period in the villa as well. This ornamentation is attached to the corners of the top by pins, concealed by small leaves. The eight heads of the Seasons show a virtuosic and skilful execution in the details of the flowers, leaves, and wheat shafts, as well as the drapery and details of beards and hair. They are also marked by varietas in the characterised expressions of the faces (Minozzi, in Valadier, 2019, cat. 3, p. 190).

The formal and chromatic combination of different marbles and the materials in the supports are equally refined and varied in taste, from the frames and the large flattened volutes of the gilded corbels to the colouristic cross-reference between the different qualities of precious marbles covering the shaft.

The balanced composition of the different parts has led some scholars to hypothesise that architect Antonio Asprucci might have designed them (Ferrara Grassi 1987; González-Palacios, Il gusto, 1993, I, p. 225). This is entirely plausible, since from 1756, the year Asprucci became architect to the Borghese family, the two frequently found themselves working together and sharing similar thoughts on the design of furnishings.

On the top of the central core of the peperino shaft, during the last restoration, two iron rings were found for each table, probably originally designed for movement (Minozzi, in Valadier, 2019, cat. 3, p. 190).

The two tables have certainly been in the Villa Pinciana since 1833, when they were included among the fideicommissum’s possessions; first placed in Room I, today the Pauline Room, they were later moved to the Emperors Room, where they can still be found.

Sonja Felici