These incredible Venetian figural torchères from the late 17th or early 18th Century pay artistic homage to the “Goddess Fortuna” known as the ‘Goddess of Fortune”
These carved wood sculptures in the Lombardo style rise to a total height of more than seven feet and are believed to have been crafted during the late Renaissance period. These true masterpieces offer great example's of the centuries-old tradition of Venetian woodcarving.
The natural fragile nature of pieces like these combined with the ravages of time have greatly reduced the number of surviving works exemplifying this era and style in turn placing more importance on each remaining example.
Their depiction of the Goddess of Chance, does not follow the predominate commissions of this era which tended to feature architectural and traditional religious themes. Based on this departure it’s most As such it’s highly likely these torchères were commissioned by a public official of standing or a wealthy Venetian merchant intended to be displayed to invoke emotional responses and a sense of the hosts importance and wealth to guests.
Displaying exacting attention to detail, the goddess Fortuna is rendered in exotic clothing dressed in a silver-gilt gown, holding aloft a six-light reeded and leaf-carved candelabrum atop a cornucopia, and supported on a green faux marble concave pedestal, painted with cut-cornered panels.
Retaining much of their original paint, a combination of gilt, polychrome and natural wood gives these imposing sculptures a dynamic and more life-like appearance.
Originally popular in both Greek and Roman religions the Goddess of Chance, was a capricious dispenser of good and ill fortune.
The Greek poet Hesiod called her the daughter of the Titan Oceanus and his consort Tethys; other writers attributed her fatherhood directly to Zeus the supreme god. She was also associated with the more beneficent Agathos Daimon, a good spirit, protective of individuals and families, and with Nemesis, who, as an abstraction, represented punishment of overprosperous man and so was believed to act as a moderating influence.
She was often shown winged, wearing a crown, and bearing a sceptre and cornucopia; but she also appeared blindfolded and with various devices signifying uncertainty and risk.
Among her monuments was a temple at Argos, where the legendary Palamedes is said to have dedicated to her the first set of dice, which he is supposed to have invented.
Fortune would have many influences in cultural works throughout the Middle Ages and like many other ancient historical and pagan traditions was converted into the religious circles of the Venetian’s.
In Le Roman de la Rose, Fortune frustrates the hopes of a lover who has been helped by a personified character "Reason". In Dante's Inferno (vii.67-96), Virgil explains the nature of Fortune, both a devil and a ministering angel, subservient to God.
Boccaccio's De Casibus Virorum Illustrium ("The Fortunes of Famous Men"), used by John Lydgate to compose his Fall of Princes, tells of many where the turn of Fortune's wheel brought those most high to disaster, and Boccaccio essay De remedii dell'una e dell'altra Fortuna, depends upon Boethius for the double nature of Fortuna. Fortune makes her appearance in Carmina Burana.
The Christianized Lady Fortune is not autonomous: illustrations for Boccaccio's Remedii show Fortuna enthroned in a triumphal car with reins that lead to heaven.
Fortuna also appears in chapter 25 of Machiavelli's The Prince, in which he says Fortune only rules one half of men's fate, the other half being of their own will. Machiavelli reminds the reader that Fortune is a woman, that she favours a strong, ambitious hand, and that she favours the more aggressive and bold young man than a timid elder. Monteverdi's opera L'incoronazione di Poppea features Fortuna, contrasted with the goddess Virtue. Even Shakespeare was no stranger to Lady Fortune:
When in disgrace with Fortune and men's eyes
I all alone beweep my outcast state...
— Sonnet 29
Known in Italy as androne torchère, these figures would likely have adorned a grand stairway landing or perhaps have flanked the main dining table in a Palace where they would evoke a sense of wonderment to all visitors.
Wooden sculptures preserved of this quality are exceedingly rare due primarily to both the natural and unnatural forces that negatively impact wooden sculptures. That these have survived the passing of nearly four centuries is a testimonial to the importance placed on them.
From changes in favor of religious and civic treatment of art pieces, to the natural political intrigue, multiple wars, we must add variables created by changes in the fortunes of benefactors. Obviously the enviromental conditions have also added to the loss of many such styled pieces with pests and the natural deterioration caused by the passage of time combined with flooding throughout the storied and quite colorful history of Venice.
Indeed Fortuna herself must have been working overtime to protect these exceedingly rare works of the storied Venetian carved art form allowing us to glimpse today into a long passed world.
