Attributed to Valentino Panciera

Attributed to VALENTINO PANCIERA BESAREL (Italy, 1829- 1902).
"Venetian musician.
Carved and patinated wood.
Presents restoration on the right foot, breakage in two fingers, in the chest.
It preserves the neck of the mandolin of exempt form, independent of the set.
Measurements: 136 x 57 x 40 cm; 54 x 40 x 40 x 40 cm (base).
With the refinement typical of Venetian sculpture of the 19th century, this figure embodies the survival of a tradition of craftsmanship that knew how to dialogue with the historicist languages of its time. It represents a Venetian musician, dressed in Renaissance costumes, captured in a slow and elegant attitude that combines naturalism and restrained theatricality. The serene gesture of the face, the slight twisting of the body and the careful compositional balance reveal a clear narrative vocation, inviting the viewer to imagine the scene beyond the moment represented.
The work is attributed to Valentino Panciera Besarel (Italy, 1829-1902), one of the most prominent sculptors of nineteenth-century Venice, famous for his small and medium-sized wood carvings. Besarel was recognized for his extraordinary technical skill and for his conscious recovery of Italian Renaissance models, reinterpreted with modern sensibility. In this sculpture, the meticulous attention to detail, visible in the folds of the clothing, the treatment of the hair and the objects carried by the figure, reveals an exceptional quality of execution, in keeping with the best productions of the artist and his circle.
Carved in wood and later patinated, the surface presents a sober chromatic richness that accentuates the volumes and confers unity to the whole. The choice of wood as a support is not accidental: Besarel and his contemporaries claimed it as a noble material. The pedestal, integrated into the conception of the work, reinforces its sculptural character and suggests an original destination linked to bourgeois interiors or private collections.