The exhibition “From Terracotta to Marble: Genesis of a Masterpiece,” curated by Luca Leoncini and Anna Manzitti, was held at Palazzo Reale. It was dedicated to one of the most important and famous works in the collections, created by the Genoese sculptor Filippo Parodi and depicting “Christ at the Column.”
The event stems from the opportunity to present, for the first time, the extraordinary comparison between the precious marble sculpture and the related terracotta sketch, also created by the artist and now owned by Stuart Lochhead Sculpture.
Filippo Parodi used to model terracotta sketches with the aim of showing the compositions to his clients but also to guide the collaborators who would help him in the creation of the final works. The terracotta model is about half the size of the famous marble sculpture, which depicts one of the most dramatic moments of the Passion and which Parodi translates into a particularly docile Christ, bowing his head back and enduring the torture inflicted by his tormentors.
Initially trained as a woodcarver, Filippo Parodi quickly became the most talented Baroque sculptor of his time. He designed and created prestigious works, such as the decoration of the Paradiso ship, the wedding carriage for Anna Pamphilj and Giovanni Andrea III Doria, as well as frames, consoles, wooden statues, furnishings, installations, and, of course, precious marble sculptures. During his stays in Rome, he rubbed shoulders with the greatest personalities of the time, including Gian Lorenzo Bernini, whose creative power influenced the works he produced for major Genoese clients, from the Brignoles to the Grimaldis and Spinolas, and from the Saulies to the Durazzos. His fame led him to work beyond the borders of Liguria, in Venice and Padua, where he was involved in the creation of grandiose monuments in marble and stucco.
