Gaetano Ferrari – Jupiter Aegiochus

Jupiter Aegiochus • 1840 ca.

Red Albania marble, cm 46.5 × 31.5 × 8

Archival documentation: Venice, Istituto Veneto di Scienze Lettere ed Arti, Concorsi e premi industriali, 1840, b. 102, f. 3, n. 127 Ferrari Gaetano

The gemstone portraying Jupiter, bearer of the Aegis (the shield made from Almathea’s goat skin), in chalcedony and sardonyx, known since the eighteenth century as the Cameo Zulian, was bought by the ambassador Gerolamo Zulian during the Bailliage of Constantinople at the end of the eighteenth century and donated by him to Venice’s public collections in 1795. The gem’s fame turned into public appreciation thanks to Antonio Canova and the diffusion of Raffaello Morghen’s engraving to accompany Ennio Quirino Visconti’s dissertation, published in 1793 and distributed in multiple copies in Venice and Rome. The gemstone, dated between the late Hellenistic and Hadrianic periods, is considered a masterpiece of antiquity. In 1797 it was selected by the French to be transported to Paris. At the fall of Napoleon, in 1815, the gem of Jupiter Egioco was returned to the Austrians and sent to Venice, in the possession of Klemens von Metternich himself, to be exhibited at the Palazzo Ducale. Following the piece’s return to Venice, its newfound popularity and influence were such that over the course of the nineteenth century various artists made copies or reproduced it. Among the most renowned reproductions were the engraving made by Francesco Hayez for one of the plates in the volume Homage from the Venetian Provinces and the cameo engraved by Bartolomeo Bongiovanni used to decorate one of its elegant covers. Some years later, in 1824, the future antiquarian from Padua, Giuseppe Rizzoli, presented an ivory Head of Jupiter Egioco at the exhibition of the Accademia di Belle Arti in Venice.
However, our Head of Jupiter in red marble is a case apart in that it cannot be considered a copy like the above cases, but rather a reinterpretation. Sources confirm that it was made by Gaetano Ferrari (Marostica 1786 – Venice 1873) in 1840 and presented to the Imperial Regio Istituto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti of Venice to participate in the annual Premi d’Industria run by the Austrian Empire. It is thanks to Ferrari’s writings that we know the details: “The respectful undersigned presents to the illustrious commission a work of art representing the portrait of Jupiter, sculpted in Austrian Rosso Albania, a quality of marble chosen for its beautiful colour, its regularity, and a fineness of grain to substitute Rosso Antico, for noble pieces […]” (Venezia, Istituto Veneto di Scienze Lettere ed Arti, Concorsi e premi industriali, 1840, b. 102, f. 3, n. 127 Ferrari Gaetano). Added to which, the work is ascribable to Gaetano Ferrari when compared stylistically to other pieces certainly by him; for instance, the two Ecce Homo in bas-relief, one destined for the French Foreign Minister, Conte Mathieu Montmorency (now Longpont sur Orge, Essone, Priorato della Basilica di Notre Dame de la Bonne Garde) and the other for Klemens von Metternich (Kynžvart, Castle Metternich). In both Ecce Homo we find the same treatment of the eyes as we see in Jupiter and equal mastery in the modulation of the curly hair.
Following in the footsteps of his more famous brother Bartolomeo, Gaetano Ferrari moved to Venice in 1804, enrolled at the Veneta Accademia di Pittura e Scultura, continuing his studies in 1807 at the reformed Accademia di Belle Arti under the tuition of Angelo Pizzi, then Professor of Sculpture, immediately showing himself to be an artist of talent and receiving numerous prizes every year he spent at the academy. Although lauded, he would participate but not win two competitions to study in Rome, in 1809 (when no sculptor was chosen) and in 1813 (where he was beaten by Rinaldo Rinaldi and Giacomo De Martini). Gaetano Ferrari is remembered not only for winning prizes, but also from 1815 for taking part for several years in the summer exhibitions held at the academy; on these occasions he showed himself to be an experimenter, in 1822 exhibiting an Eternal Father Adored by Three Cherubs in Carrara marble on Broccatello di Verona and a Cupid Shooting Arrows in red stone from Kotor.
In parallel to activities at the academy, Gaetano Ferrari took part in the large sculpture projects, in Venice he worked on the decorations for the Royal Palace, and having moved to Milan at the start of the 1810s, he worked on the façade of the Duomo. In Milan he met Camillo Pacetti and began to work in his studio, undertaking various works including Santa Marcellina. Once back in Venice, in 1813 to collaborate on the decoration of the Royal Palace, he joined his brother Bartolomeo to help with the many works in wood commissioned by the French Navy. After the fall of Napoleon and return of the Austrians, Gaetano Ferrari helped his brother restore the bronze Lion that came back damaged from Paris, to be relocated on one of the two columns in Piazzetta di S. Marco. His skill was recognised by the city’s best sculptors, and backed by Conte Leopoldo Cicognara, President of the Accademia, Gaetano Ferrari moved to Rome to work in Canova’s studio. Here Canova immediately intuited the young Ferrari’s great talent and entrusted him with finishing his works, to wit The Muse Polyhymnia, two groups of the Three Graces, The Monument to the Stuarts, Theseus Slaying the Centaur, the Forlì Hebe amongst others. In 1818 Canova also commissioned a fourth bust of Pope Pius VII at his own expense to go in the sacristy at the Basilica of St. John Lateran. Knowledge of Canova’s refined technique allowed Ferrari to achieve excellent results when working with marble. In 1820 he left Rome to return to Venice, having become a skilful sculptor and expert in antique art, he was called to the Arsenale to take up the position of Master of Sculpture, a role he held for the rest of his life. Although he was occupied with work at the Arsenale, Gaetano Ferrari also succeeded in satisfying international demand, indeed, the Emperor of Austria, Chancellor Metternich, the English nobility, and other private and public patrons, including from Latin America, all requested his works of art.

Elena Catra