Plasticatore lombardo dell'inizio del Seicento

Terracotta high relief representing Cardinal Federico Borromeo, cousin of Saint Charles and his successor as Archbishop of Milan from 1595 to 1633, a historical figure also known as "Cardinal Federigo" for the role assigned to him by Alessandro Manzoni in The Betrothed. Measurements: height 43 cm, width 21 cm, depth 9 cm. The contained dimensions and state of conservation suggest that the high relief was part of a sacred representation in a private context, in which Borromeo's role was likely that of the "donor," the generous figure who was portrayed in the work of art he subsidized: it is certainly a role in line with Borromeo's fame as a patron of the arts, who with his enormous personal wealth supported all kinds of charitable works, but also in the field of culture (he created the Biblioteca Ambrosiana with his own funds) and art (he established the Pinacoteca Ambrosiana with his rich art collection). The only part of the high relief rendered in the round is the face, whose portrait-like precision indicates that the Cardinal's physiognomy must have been well known to the anonymous sculptor, who likely belonged to the circle of artists that Borromeo used for his commissions. Stylistically, the style of the garment with folds still of sixteenth-century measure makes a dating in the first decades of the seventeenth century plausible, while the mature appearance of the protagonist suggests focusing it in the twenties of the same century. The refined work is of interest not only from an artistic point of view but also as a historical document, as a rare portrait of Cardinal Federico Borromeo. It is accompanied by a historical-artistic sheet drawn up by a well-known academic scholar of Art History.