A rare and very imposing Italian eighteenth century gilt bronze mounted blued metal picket altar candlestick attributed to Luigi Valadier, surmounted by a circular dish with central picket on which the candle would be fixed, the dish with a circular stepped rim decorated below with rosettes between shaped panels above a gadrooned cup on a shaped stand and foot, above a fluted baluster shaft, headed by a beaded ring above acanthus leaves and terminated by a foliate ring above a vase-shaped baluster plinth mounted with three winged cherubim heads linked by foliate sprays centred by apples above further foliate sprays, on a circular beaded foot resting on a shaped tripartite base, mounted on the three sides with three gilded ears of corn above three vine leaves and bunches of grapes, the angled corners of the base mounted with an acanthus leaf terminated by a pronounced scroll on flat circular feet

Italy, Rome, date circa 1765-75

Height 44 cm, width of base: 15 cm.

This handsome picket candlestick was originally intended to be placed on an altar table, either in a private chapel or a public place of worship. Some were made of gilt or painted wood while others were of gilt bronze and other metals. Such candlesticks were usually made in pairs or groups of four, six and occasionally seven, to stand either side of a central crucifix. Our example is believed to be by Luigi Valadier (1726-85) who, working in Rome, proved a versatile and talented designer, bronzier and gold and silversmith, who used a remarkable range of materials including precious stones, enamel, wood, bronze, gold, silver and glass to create highly imaginative and elegant works of art. Many of these were ecclesiastical works. Among them one can cite an extraordinary silver high altar for the Cathedral of Santa Maria la Nuova, in Monreale, Sicily. Commissioned in the late 1760s by Archbishop Francesco Testa, the altar is decorated with reliefs depicting scenes from the life of the Virgin, to whom the church is dedicated. On top of the altar, Valadier placed silver and gilt-bronze statues of six saints, in between which are six patinated bronze candlesticks which, though simpler in decoration to our example, are nevertheless of the same overall design. 

Another major ecclesiastical piece by Valadier was a sumptuous silver and lapis lazuli chalice, mounted with putti and depicting scenes of Christ’s last days (Museé du Louvre, Paris), which was given in 1784 by Pope Pius VI to Prince Stanisław Poniatowski, Archbishop of Krakow and Primate of Poland. In 1766/67 Valadier designed and made a spectacular silver-gilt monstrance, ornamented with topaz and decorated on its base with the symbols of the Evangelists and above with figures of the three Virtues and small putti holding the symbols of Christ’s passion, which was recently discovered in the Cathedral of León in Nicaragua. Other of his ecclesiastical commissions include an ornate silver-gilt communion set comprising a chalice, ewer and cruets for wine and water from the Orsini Mass Service, circa 1768, for the Cathedral of San Nicola, Muro Lucano. While a large number of Valadier’s commissions came from ecclesiastical institutions, he also designed and made a wide range of highly decorative secular objects counting among them clock cases, vases, tazzas and other sumptuous objects for the dining room table. 

Born in Rome, Luigi Valadier belonged to a renowned artistic family. His father Andrea Valadier (1695-1759), who had been born in Provence in France, settled in Rome in 1714, where he established a workshop that continued operating under the control of successive generations of the family until the mid nineteenth century. Andrea’s workshop produced decorative objects in a variety of media that had a profound influence on prevailing taste and established a distinctive style characterized by classically inspired Rococo elements. On Andrea’s death in 1759, Luigi Valadier took over his father’s workshop, proving equally, if not more, successful. Having trained as a silversmith and bronzier under his father, his earliest recorded activity was associated with the casting of bronze altar railings made for the king of Portugal. A watershed event for Luigi came when he spent time in Paris during 1753 and 1754, where he may well have come in contact with the great Parisian goldsmith François-Thomas Germain (1726–91). Luigi returned from Paris with a thorough understanding of French rococo design and thus when he inherited his father’s business in 1759, the look of the workshop’s production became decidedly French and rococo, with Roman overtones. However, as a man of great innovations, his styles also embraced Baroque and Classical elements.

In 1762, following his father’s death, Luigi moved to the corner of what is today Via del Babuino and Via d’Alibert, near to the Spanish Steps in a fashionable neighbourhood that attracted Rome’s foreign visitors. Presiding over a bustling shop, for more than twenty years, Luigi and his eighty or so assistants produced objects not only for the Pope and the noble families of Rome, among them the Borghese, Colonna, Chigi, Odescalchi, Sforza Cesarini, and Giustiniani, as well as foreign aristocrats and the monarchs of France, England, Spain, Portugal, and Russia. Having worked for the Vatican since circa 1769, in 1779 Pope Pius VI appointed him superintendent of the restoration of the bronzes in the Papal collection and gave him responsibility for the collection of ancient cameos.

Although surviving documents convey the scale and success of Valadier’s workshop, he was often financially burdened by commissions that were never paid. In 1785, he committed suicide by drowning himself in the Tiber. After this, the concern was run his son Giuseppe Valadier (1762-1839), best known as an architect working in the Neo-classical style, who took over the family workshop and became the silversmith of the Sacro Palazzo Apostolico and head of the Vatican foundry. As Giuseppe became increasingly occupied in his work as an architect and town planner, he turned over his workshop to the Spagna family in 1817, but the goldsmithing tradition continued in the Valadier family through Luigi’s younger brother Luigi Giovanni Valadier (1732-1805) and Luigi Giovanni’s three sons Filippo Valadier (b.1770), Tommaso Valadier (b.1772) and Luigi Valadier II (b.1781).

Among comparable ecclesiastical candlesticks that pre-date Valadier’s oeuvre, one can site a pair of carved wooden altar candlesticks dated 1627 that are believed to have been donated to the church of Santissima Annunziata in Florence in 1627, possibly by Christine of Lorraine Grand Duchess of Tuscany, who married Ferdinando I de Medici. Another similar pair made of bronze dating from the seventeenth, or eighteenth century was sold in the Dino and Raffaello Tomasso sale (Sotheby’s, London, 29^th April 2021, lot 32). Those examples, like ours, all have a similar form in having tripartite bases, and elaborately decorated angular bases, vertical arrangements of balusters around their long vertical shaft or stem and are surmounted by the same shaped dish centred by a spiked picket on which the candle is affixed. 

Another very close comparison is a set of six slightly larger bronze altar candlesticks with reliefs on their triangular bases displaying attributes of saints, of which one pair is now in the Metropolitan Museum, New York, another pair is in the Morgan Library & Museum, New York, while a third pair is in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. They are believed to have been made in Venice during the mid sixteenth century and are attributed to the workshop of Vincenzo Grandi or his nephew Gian Gerolamo Grandi. 

Like the above set of six candlesticks, as well as some by Valadier, our example also features a vase-shaped baluster (just above the triangular base), featuring winged heads of angels or cherubim interspersed by swags. Again, like them, our candlestick has a part-fluted shaft and copious amount of acanthus leaves and other ancient classical ornamentation. While ours has scrolls and an acanthus leaf at its feet, those in the Metropolitan have lion paw feet, those in the Morgan Library rise from sphinxes resting on smaller animal paws, while those in V&A rest on horned dolphins. The classically inspired decoration adorning the set of six candlesticks in the Metropolitan, the Morgan Library and V&A is said to have derived from four Roman marble ones now in the Galleria dei Candelabri of the Vatican Museums. They were known throughout the Renaissance and were restored in the time of Raphael. Their designs were probably disseminated all over Italy through drawings and, in that way, may well have been the inspiration for our candlestick.

Like the set of six, mentioned above and other similar candlesticks, the tripartite bases are adorned with ecclesiastical motifs. In our instance, each side of the base features three gilded ears of corn and three vine leaves above bunches of grapes. While the corn and grapes can sometimes represent in art two of the Four Seasons, namely corn or wheat for Summer and grapes for Autumn, in this context they symbolise the bread and wine served at Mass. In general, the grape, like the eucharistic wine is a symbol of Christ’s blood, while the vine leaf can also represent Christ as the True Vine. Likewise, the corn, from which bread is made, is also a common ecclesiastical symbol. Just before he was crucified in Jerusalem by the Romans, Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with his disciples, sharing with them bread and wine, which he explained represented his body and blood that was to be sacrificed when he died on the cross. 

In addition to the corn and grapes around the base are winged heads of angels or cherubim, which again feature on the vase-shaped baluster above. Between the latter are foliate swags, centred by a pair of apples. In Latin, the word for apple and the word for evil is malum. For this reason, legend has arisen that the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden (described in the Bible in book of Genesis) was an apple tree, which Adam and Eve were forbidden by God to eat from. Another interpretation is that three apples represent Saint Dorothea of Cappadocia, who as a young and beautiful Christian girl was ordered by the third century governor of the province to renounce her faith. She refused and as a result had to witness her two sisters being burnt at the stake and then she too was killed in the same manner. As she was being led to the stake a young lawyer called Theophilus jeered at her and asked her to send flowers and fruit from heaven. After her death an angel, in the guise of a young boy, appeared holding three roses and three apples which he then gave to Theophilus, who as a result converted to the Christian faith. If, as suggested the apples allude to St. Dorothea, then this candlestick may have been made for a church dedicated to her. 

The Roman Rite stipulates that candles should be lit on or behind the altar during the celebration of Mass, flanking a crucifix. The humble beeswax of the candles symbolizes Christ’s body, the wick his soul, and the flame his divinity. Up to six can be lit, always at Sunday Mass, while a seventh can be used by a bishop celebrating in his own diocese. In the course of the Renaissance, candleholders grew in richness, their stems, knobs for handling, drip pans and prickets offering a host of design options. Whilst this and other candles were originally made to be used on altar, their handsome shape and intricate designs make them equally suitable for present day use in a domestic setting, adding a focal point when placed in a grand entrance hall or as a centrepiece for a dining room table.