Trento, two precious bronze apostles from the 17th century found: they return to the Buonconsiglio after 200 years

Lost on the antiques market in the early 20th century, two magnificent 17th-century bronze sculptures that belonged to the prince-bishop of Trent have returned to the museum collections of the Buonconsiglio Castle in the capital of Trentino.

An exhibition, titled The Rediscovered Apostles. Masterpieces from the ancient residence of the Princes Bishops and curated by Giuseppe Sava: it was to open to the public until April 5, 2021 in the Torrion da Basso room at the Buonconsiglio Castle, but with the momentary closure of the museum it will be virtually visible thanks to a review (“face to face”) of short videos made by the museum curators under the direction of Alessandro Ferrini visible on the museum’s social channels. The exhibition, organized by the museum with the help of the Soprintendenza per i Beni Culturali, tells the fascinating story of a lucky find of two magnificent 17th-century gilded bronze sculptures most likely commissioned by the prince-bishop and until 1803 kept in the prince-bishop’s residence at Buonconsiglio Castle. It was precisely in 1803 that Count Simone Consolati acquired the two bronzes and brought them to Fontanasanta, after which, in the 20th century they were sold and placed on the antiques market: they were recently traced on the Milanese antiques market by the Buonconsiglio Castle thanks to an inspection by art historian Giuseppe Sava and acquired for the museum collections.

Before that, however, in 1875, eight gilded bronze statuettes from the collection of Villa Consolati, one of the most significant art collections in the province where some of the most important pieces of art history in Trentino once kept in the prince-bishop’s residence after 19th-century spoliation, were displayed at an important exhibition in Trento. Thanks to the family’s willingness, superintendent Giuseppe Gerola in the early 1900s managed to recover a good portion of them and allow them to be relocated to Buonconsiglio Castle. Missing, however, were the two small bronzes that now return to the Buonconsiglio.

According to Giuseppe Sava, the author of the two bronzes could be Nicolò Roccatagliata (Genoa, c. 1570 - Venice, after 1636), who worked for Prince-Bishop Madruzzo in the early 17th century. Comparison in the exhibition with some of the artist’s works, starting with a beautiful, almost unpublished processional cross preserved in Trentino and commissioned from the artist by the community of Nago, will best enhance the acquisition of the bronzes to the museum’s holdings.

The identification is incontrovertible (these are the apostles Paul and Philip recognizable at both ends from a historical photograph found in the museum’s photographic archives) and thus allows us to recover two elements of a prestigious series that until now had been given up for lost.

Among the recovered works is also a very notable semi-precious stone commesso cabinet immortalized in an early 20th-century painting by Annunziata Consolati in which several gilded bronze statuettes are featured. A coeval photographic record owned by the museum’s Photographic Archives shows the same statuettes placed on spool bases presumably made of ebonized wood. All trace of them was lost after this period, however.

For all information you can visit the official website of the Buonconsiglio Castle.

Trento, two precious bronze apostles from the 17th century found: they return to the Buonconsiglio after 200 years

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