Attributed to ANIELLO STELLATO (Active in Naples... Lot n° 45

Attributed to ANIELLO STELLATO (Active in Naples between 1605 and 1643); first half of the seventeenth century. "Pair of angels with cornucopias". Carved and polychrome wood. The bases of both pieces are from a later period. Measurements: 38 x 18 x 17 cm (x2) Pair of round sculptures carved in wood, polychrome and gilded. They represent two angels dressed with golden tunic, holding each one of them a cornucopia loaded with fruits, symbol of the abundance and the fertility. Both present a moving and naturalistic composition, typical of the Baroque period, especially emphasizing the dynamism of the tunics worn by the angels and their hair, which seems to wave in the wind. The works are largely reminiscent of the aesthetic patterns that became popular at the time, which represented harquebusier angels, or torchbearers. Being indispensable in the representation of sculptural groups of religious character, starring the figure of saints, Jesus, or the Virgin. Spanish Baroque sculpture is one of the most authentic and personal examples of our art, because its conception and its form of expression arose from the people and the deepest feelings that nested in it. With the economy of the State broken, the nobility in decline and the high clergy burdened with heavy taxes, it was the monasteries, the parishes and the confraternities of clerics and laymen who promoted its development, the works sometimes being financed by popular subscription. Sculpture was thus compelled to embody the prevailing ideals in these environments, which were none other than religious ones, at a time when the counter-reformist doctrine demanded from art a realistic language so that the faithful would understand and identify with what was represented, and an expression endowed with an intense emotional content to increase the fervor and devotion of the people. The religious subject is, therefore, the preferred theme of Spanish sculpture of this period, which in the first decades of the century began with a priority interest in capturing the natural, to progressively intensify throughout the century the expression of expressive values, which is achieved through the movement and variety of gestures, the use of light resources and the representation of moods and feelings.