1646
A Garniture of Three Imperial Egyptian Porphry Vases and Covers after a Design by Abbé Benedetti and Attributed to Silvio Calice
The best indications for the dating and authorship of the present vases are provided by the history of those in the Louvre and a similar vase at Versailles. Louis XIV may have obtained it second hand from the collection of the disgraced Cardinal Mazarin. The Cardinal was advised by the Abbé Benedetti, his agent in Rome, who was familiar of the Barberini [patrons of - among others - Bernini] and the Francophile party in the Vatican. He was in direct contact with the craftsmen who worked for the Cardinal and may also have acted as a dealer for some of them. After Mazarin’s death in 1661 Benedetti became the King’s own agent in Rome. He used to make detailed and captioned drawings of proposed purchases, in order to help the King make his decisions. One of these shows five vases of ornate shapes - typical of the Baroque in the middle of the seventeenth century - and of descending sizes and two further ones, including one of the present type, on its reverse (Bibliothèque Nationale de France. Cabinet des Estampes: Desseins de sept vazes de différentes formes de l’Abbé Benedetti - Malgouyres, p.138,
fig. 65; p. 140, fig.66). The only way of dating this sheet is thanks to the close similarity of three of the designs to those of some vases in the collection of the Doria-Pamphilij Princes, which in turn are connected with payments in 1646 and 1647 to one Silvio Calice, a well-known specialist in working porphyry. This is fascinating, for – by extension - it indicates the name of the probable maker of the present vase too. His surname, which means ‘chalice’ or ‘cup’ in Italian, may even have been derived from some of his products – or those of his father or ancestors.
In the Eternal City there was a supply of porphyry from ancient Rome in the form of abandoned columns, etc., from collapsed edifices. All of this originated from the quarries of Gebel Dokhan in the Eastern Desert of Egypt, which were opened in the 1st century AD and worked until the 5th and was reserved for imperial use. The quaries were particularly exploited during the reigns of the Emperors Nero, Trajan, Hadrian and lastly Constantine who used the porphyry to build the first St Peter’s Basilica which was started in 316. These pillars were considered so special that the Renaissance Pope Paul II (1464 – 1471) is reported to have said that two of St Peter’s columns are worth more than the whole city of Venice. The porphyry was quarried and worked by convicts and slave labour, including many Early Christians, condemned for their belief. In the Renaissance, and especially during the ensuing Baroque period, the material was reworked by the stone-cutters (scarpellini) of Rome to suit the taste of their patrons, who wished to assimilate themselves with the prestigious culture of the ancient world.
Provenance:
Château de Villegongis : The Montesquieu Family. The elegant and moated Château de Villegongis was probably built by Pierre Nepveu, one of the master masons for Chambord. Since the 15th Century the ownership has stayed in the same family. The Château has barely changed and the interior is exceptionaly well furnished with some very fine 17th and 18th Century pieces
Comparative Literature:
Paris, Musée du Louvre, département des Objets d’Art. Inv. Nos. OA 9232-9233 (N 15930-15966)
See : Philippe de Malgouyres, Porphyre : La pierre pourpre des Ptolémées aux Bonaparte, exh. cat., Musée du Louvre, 2003-4,pp.113, no. 26.
Measurements of Single vase
| Dimensions | CM | Inches |
|---|---|---|
| Width: | 50 | 19.75 |
| Depth: | 32 | 12.5 |
| Height: | 43 | 17 |